A New Life
by accioamber
Summary: What happened if Harry actually did get to live with Sirius? Probably been done before, but it was new to me. Please read A/N.
1. New Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, any of the characters, etc. I'm just a (practically) lifelong fan who is starting to dabble in HP fanfiction.

A/N: This idea has probably been done before, but I haven't come across it. This is my first HP fanfiction, so the first chapter or so might be a little rough. I will find my niche though! I'm someone who enjoys heartwarming, sentimental stories and one of the things that made me really sad in the series is that Harry never got to live with Sirius and experience what it felt like to belong in a family...as cheesy as that may sound. So this is my way of dabbling in that idea. For reference, I'm going with the idea that Pettigrew never escaped and he was caught and put in Azkaban...obviously this is totally AU. Enjoy, leave reviews if you like. Breaks will be ******.

It was all over. Wormtail had been captured and taken by the dementors to Azkaban. Sirius had had a chance to tell his whole story, and Harry, Ron and Hermione had backed him up. With Wormtail alive, healthy and well, there was no choice but to believe Sirius's story. He was free.

Cornelius Fudge had wanted a few moments alone with Sirius, so Dumbledore, who had a small smile on his face, had lead Harry and Hermione to a room across the hall. Ron had already been taken to the hospital wing. He conjured up two armchairs in the empty room, and a fire in the fireplace.

"Wait here. I'll be back in a few moments." Dumbledore went to leave, but turned with his hand on the door. "You have proven to be incredibly brave and mischievous yet again tonight. I can't tell you how proud I am of you. You saved an innocent man's life, and there is no greater feeling."

They were alone, and Harry couldn't help but smile. "Do you know what this means?" he asked Hermione.

"What?" she yawned, utterly exhausted by the night's occurences and vaguely wishing she was in bed, despite how important this entire evening had been.

"That I'm finally going to get a family." Harry said, a grin appearing on his face. He thought of Sirius's offer to have him live with him, and how happy it made him. "I never have to see the Dursley's again if I don't want to."

"Harry, I know they haven't been the nicest to you, but they're still your aunt and uncle, and cousin. I'm sure you'll miss them." Hermioned said sensibly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hermione, they've locked me in a cupboard, starved me, treated me terribly, and tell people I'm in a school for incurably criminal boys. I am not going to miss them."

Hermione laughed. "I'm happy for you, Harry."

A few minutes later, Hermione had passed out in the chair by the warm fire, and Harry was close to the same point, too. The chair was so comfortable and surely he could just nap for a minute...

Suddenly the door burst open and there was Sirius, a broad grin on his face. "Harry!" He said joyfully, and the boy snapped out of his half-unconscious state.

"Sirius?" He said, meaning it as a question.

"I'm free." Sirius said, and Harry went over and hugged his godfather.

The end of the year came swiftly after the events of that fateful night. Ron's leg had been expertly mended by Madame Pomfrey, and all was as it should be. But things were slightly different in the boys dormitory of Gryffindor tower. Harry was packing his items happily, knowing that he could take out things from his trunk whenever he chose that summer; his magical life wouldn't be locked in a cupboard beneath the stairs anymore.

A few days before, Harry had penned a letter to his aunt and uncle, with a bit of prodding from Hermione. Harry would have been content to tell them goodbye forever at King's Cross when the train came in, but Hermione said that was rude and he'd regret it eventually. He knew in his mind that he wouldn't, but decided to send the letter anyways.

_Dear Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia:_

_This letter will probably make you very happy, maybe even happier than it makes me. You don't have to come get me at King's Cross Station at the end of this term. I won't be coming back to live with you._

_A few days ago, I met my godfather. His name is Sirius Black, also known as the convicted murderer you saw on TV last summer. Well, turns out he was innocent and he is my godfather, my Dad's best friend. He's invited me to come live with him and I've told him yeah. So I won't be with you anymore. _

_The last almost 13 years have been very difficult for all of us. I hope you all have a good life, I guess._

_Harry_

With that, he'd sent the letter off with Hedwig, who had returned with a short response.

_Good about your godfather, he can deal with all your craziness now. _

_Good luck with your life._

_The Dursleys_

It had been very strange, but Harry knew nothing had ever been ordinary when it came to the Dursley's. He was just glad it was over, and glad that Sirius would be waiting for him at the other end.

For once, Harry couldn't wait to get off the train.

"Chill out, mate, you're practically bouncing off the seats," Ron said thickly through a mouthful of cauldron cakes. "We'll get there soon enough."

"Ron, don't be insensitive, for once Harry has a summer he actually look forward to!" Hermione said, paging through one of their spellbooks again.

"Hey, do you guys think maybe Sirius will let you come and stay for a little in the summer? I hope he does. That'd be cool." Harry couldn't help but sound like a little kid. He'd never had, at least that he could remember, someone who wanted him to be there. Someone who wanted him to live there. And he'd never lived with an adult wizard before. He was excited beyond belief.

The train came to a stop in the station, and the trio grabbed the rest of their candy and stuffed it into their pockets. They dragged their feet, wading through the queue of people madly trying to push their way to their families. Eventually they hopped off and scanned the full station for their parents.

Hermione spotted her family first, her parents dressed impeccably in Muggle clothing (as they were muggles) and she waved at them frantically. Then she turned and threw her arms around Harry, and then Ron. "Both of you better write this summer! Have a fantastic time with Sirius, Harry!" and then she ran off and hugged her parents, too.

Ron was next to find his family, though it came in the form of Mrs. Weasley crushing him in a hug, and then Harry.

"We heard the wonderful news about Sirius, Harry-we're thrilled for you!" Molly Weasley said, and Harry smiled up at her.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." He said. He gave his farewells to Ron and Ginny and the rest of the Weasley's, who were busy trying to find their trunks and get everyone situated to get back to the Burrow.

Harry looked for a moment before finding Sirius. He was being given a wide berth by the rest of the people in the station, who were still somewhat scared of him, it seemed. He was far cleaner than the last time, with just scruff for a beard, a lot of his hair chopped off, and clean robes. "Harry!", Sirius called, and Harry took off to meet him.

A/N: Hope you liked it. I haven't written in a long time, so it might not be perfect. But I am excited about this story lol. R&R please!


	2. Getting Settled

A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews and to the people who added me to their author watch or favorite author list, story watch, etc. I really appreciate it, it's nice to be welcomed back : ) Anyways, I still don't own Harry Potter, etc etc. The breaks will be HPHPHPHP since the stars didn't work last time lol. Enjoy :D I hope it's not sappy. Lol.

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Harry ran over to Sirius, excited to see him, excited for once to be off the train and away from school. But once he was standing in front of his godfather, who was smiling at him and looking just as happy to see him, he felt slightly awkward. What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to hug Sirius, or shake his hand? Or was he supposed to ask him for help with unloading his trunk and pretend like this whole situation didn't mean the very world to him?

But Sirius said, "I'm so glad to see you," and then gave him a bone-crushing hug, and Harry knew he actually meant it. For so many years he'd been battered around, emotionally abused by the Dursleys, knowing that he wasn't loved or even much cared about, or for. He didn't know if Sirius loved him, but he knew that he cared about him. He hoped it wasn't just because he looked like his father.

Harry mentally shook himself, telling himself he was being too much like Hermione and to just let everything be for the moment. He hugged Sirius back tightly. "It's great to see you, too."

Sirius let him go and stood back, rocking on his heels a little. They looked around at everyone, who had stopped and stared at the famous Harry Potter and the ex-murderer Sirius Black hugging each other. Suddenly everyone went on with their lives, hugging their own children and collecting their things.

Sirius scratched his head a little. "Should we grab your trunk and get going, then?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure. And I've got to grab Hedwig, too." They walked over to the train, where one of the workers was busy summoning trunks out for their owners.

"Who is Hedwig?" Sirius asked, handing Harry's ticket to the worker. After his trunk was summoned, Sirius made it levitate behind them and follow, so neither of them had to carry it.

"Hedwig is my owl," Harry said, getting her cage from the back where all the animals were put during the long train ride back to Platform 9 ¾. "Hedwig, meet Sirius. Sirius, this is Hedwig."

Sirius nodded and said, "Uh, nice to meet you Hedwig." She nipped his finger affectionately. "Let's get back to my house. Here, hand me the owl and you grab a handle on your trunk. Take my hand."

Harry loosely gripped one of the handles on his trunk and then grabbed Sirius's hand. Then, he apparated for the first time. It was completely unpleasant, and made him feel nauseous, but it was a lot quicker than than taking the train or driving (if Sirius even knew how to drive).

They jerked to a halt on a quiet street called Grimmauld Place. No one was around, and Harry scanned all the houses. He noticed that the ones they were in front of were numbered from 11 to 13, but after all he had seen in the past 3 years in the wizarding world, this was the least strange. "Which one is your house, Sirius?"

Sirius said, "Well, it's kind of...different. Follow me." Flicking his wand, Sirius made Harry's trunk follow behind them again and handed his owl back. He stepped up to the fence that bordered houses 11 and 13, and suddenly, a shift was made. The buildings widened, and another house just like the others formed between them. After it was done, the new house said number 12 on it and another fence had popped up in front.

"Harry, welcome to your new home...number 12, Grimmauld Place."

Harry's jaw had dropped, and he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. A house that came out of nowhere? "Whoa." He followed Sirius up the steps and inside.

The house was pretty huge, from what he could see. It looked clean, but Harry knew that with Sirius having been gone for so long, the clean was probably a pretty recent occurrence. He looked over at Sirius and saw that he was watching him; he looked like he was waiting for Harry to say something. "I love it here, Sirius." he said, and meant it. He immediately felt at home, more at home than he had in the 12 years he'd spent living with the Dursleys.

"I really want you to feel at home here. This house is now just as much yours as it is mine. Go choose a room and I'll see about getting some lunch...you might have to bare with me for a bit, I'm not the best cook in the world." Sirius smiled shyly and pointed Harry in the direction of the stairs.

Two of the bedrooms upstairs were taken. One was most likely Sirius's. The door was open and all of his things were spread everywhere, almost like a teenager lived there. Another bedroom down the hallways was firmly closed and had the words "Regulus Arcturus Black" on it. He wandered around upstairs for a couple more minutes before choosing a bedroom just down the hall from Sirius's. It was very open, had a big bed and a huge closet, and lots of windows, which he liked. He pushed his trunk down on the floor in the corner and set Hedwig's cage on the dresser.

"We're in our new home, Hedwig," Harry said to her as he opened the latch on her cage. She flew out and landed on the dresser, nipping Harry's finger gently, then she moved back to get some food from her cage. He sat on the edge of his new bed and then opened his trunk. He started unloading all of his things, stacking his school books on the desk and lining his quills up; his clothes in the closet (obviously) and school robes in the back. He set his wand on his dresser and took out the photo book Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year. Smiling, he set it on the bedside table. Before he knew it, Sirius was calling him down to lunch.

"I'm assuming you picked a room?" Sirius questioned as Harry quietly came into the kitchen and sat down at a place.

"Yeah, down the hall from your room. It's great. I already got most of my stuff unpacked." He took a huge bite out of the sandwich Sirius set in front of him.

They enjoyed a meal together, making small talk, but Harry was avoiding asking him something that he really wanted to know. He drank some of his milk and was about to get up and put his plate in the sink when Sirius spoke.

"Okay, I realize that this whole thing might be a touch awkward for a little while. We don't really know each other that well yet, and the circumstances are a little...strange. But I expect you're used to strange and awkward by now. I want you to know that I really am glad you're here...you mean a great deal to me, Harry. Not just because you're the spitting image of your father or as kind as your mother was. You're my godson and I...well, my biggest regret about being in Azkaban for so long was that I didn't get a chance to raise you as my own and you had to live with your terrible aunt and uncle. I guess what I want to say is...are you comfortable? Is this too strange for you?"

Harry had been avoiding looking Sirius in the eyes during his "speech". He didn't really know what to say. "It's kind of weird for the moment...but like you said, it'll get easier. I just don't know how to feel, because I've never lived with anyone who actually did care about me...that I can remember. The Dursleys hated me...but I know that this is gonna work, Sirius."

Sirius stood up and gave Harry a hug. He hated imagining his godson being mistreated all these years and he wished he could make up for all of the hurt he had felt. But he hoped that was what he would be doing now that he had Harry living with him.

"Do you want to see pictures of your mum and dad?" Sirius asked, and Harry nodded, grinning happily.

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and it's not too slow...Message me ideas if you want!


	3. Doubts?

A/N: Thanks again for all the lovely feedback you all have given me! Keep the ideas coming :]

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah I don't own Harry Potter.

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"Well, I've got to get them out, so you just finish up and put your plate in the sink when you're done. I'll be in the living room...right through there. And please tread quietly, I don't want you to have to meet my mother." He stood up and left the kitchen.

"Meet his mother? What?" Harry muttered, finishing off the rest of his sandwich and draining his glass of milk. He set the dishes in the sink and brushed off his shirt. His heart was pounding and for some reason, he was nervous. This whole situation-being with Sirius, someone who had known and loved his parents, someone who knew and cared about him- made him nervous. It was new, it was scary, but he was pretty sure this was the beginning of a happy life for him.

Harry walked quietly into the living room, just as Sirius blew the dust off of the cover of a thick photo album. Three more very similar to them were stacked on the coffee table in front of him, all of them caked with dust and slightly faded with age. Sirius gave Harry a smile as he walked in the room. "Come here, Harry." He took a seat next to Sirius and sneezed as the dust caught up with him.

"Bless you," Sirius said, chuckling slightly. He cleared his throat. "I accidentally left my album behind when I...left home. As important as it was to me, I couldn't make myself come back here. I'm very surprised my mother never destroyed it."

"Sirius, what did you mean about your mother, in the kitchen? Does she live here, too?" Harry asked quietly, thinking that it was something he should've shared with Harry.

"No, Harry, in the physical sense, my mother does not live here. She died quite some time ago. However, in the hallway, just over there, behind a curtain, lies her portrait. I keep her behind the curtain because she shrieks if you wake her, terrible things. I don't want you messing around with her Harry, she's a nasty woman. She was in life and still is, in portrait form." He said wryly. "Now, I think this one is mine...ah, yes. It is." Sirius opened the book. A picture of James, Sirius, and Remus grinned up at the pair of them, and an identical grin to James' spread on Harry's face.

Sirius flipped the page, and three more photos, all of them taken in Hogsmeade, apparently, were spread out across the page. The boys looked like they didn't have a care in the world. Wormtail was in quite a few of the photos, to Harry's dismay. Without realizing it, tears had welled up in his eyes and his hands were clenched into fists. Sirius snuck a look at his godson and then flipped the page once more.

A picture of James and Lily. They were holding hands and were about 17. Lily stuck her tongue out at the camera and then dissolved into a giggle, and James was just smiling. Sirius said sadly, "This was taken at the end of our Seventh year. James and Lily were so in love...and after they used to fight constantly when we were younger. Harry, are you alright?"

Tears were running down Harry's face and he sniffed and wiped them away. "I'm fine."

"Do you want to put them away?" Sirius asked urgently, feeling terrible that this, which he thought would make Harry happy and feel closer to him, was making him feel worse.

"No. I'm, I'm okay. It's just... I've only seen a few photos of my parents, from a photo album Hagrid gave me at the end of my First year, and then I saw them in the Mirror of Erised. But this, it's just so...real. They had friends and they laughed and joked and I never got to see any of that, all because of Wormtail!" Harry shouted in anger, rubbing away his tears, feeling silly, feeling like a child.

Quickly, impulsively, Sirius wrapped him in a hug. Harry ducked his head down and stopped trying to fight. He'd never, in his entire life, who he'd felt comfortable letting his guard down with. Ron and Hermione were amazing friends, but he didn't want them to think he was some head case who would dissolve into a puddle of tears at the drop of a hat. But with Sirius, it didn't matter. He knew that he would understand.

"Listen to me, Harry. Yes, your parents lived, and they had friends and had fun and were very much in love, and very much happy people. But nothing in the world made them happier than you did. You were everything your parents ever wanted; they died to protect you. If you asked them, they'd say that none of it mattered if they hadn't got to have you along the way."

"Thanks." Harry eventually pulled away from Sirius and sniffed. "I'm sorry, I just..."

"No, don't be sorry."

They continued to look at the rest of the pictures in silence, Harry smiling for the most part, and Sirius too. Just as they were looking at the last few pages, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is that?" Sirius wondered aloud, and went to the door. After he had left the room, Harry flipped back a number of pages and looked at the first photo of just his parents. They were so happy and alive, and had no clue what was in store for them for the future, or for their son.

"Hey, Harry, how's it going?" Harry looked up and saw Lupin standing in the doorway with Sirius. "Just thought I'd stop in and see how things were going."

"Staying for dinner, Remus?" Sirius asked.

"I suppose so," Lupin said, rocking back on his heels. "Let me see, what are you looking at Harry?" He took a seat next to him on the couch and smiled. "I haven't seen these in years."

"Yeah, well, I have to go to the bathroom," Harry said, standing up abruptly and leaving Lupin by himself on the couch. This whole thing felt strange all of a sudden. It really wasn't like Lupin to "stop in" and check up, at least not on the first night in his new home. After he'd finished in the bathroom, he went back into the living room but stopped when he heard Sirius having a heated but whispered conversation.

"I told you, Sirius, it's not me that thinks that, it's Dumbledore! I promised him I'd stop by and see if things were getting on okay, if Harry was adjusting okay."

"Remus, he's been here for a total of 6 hours, how on earth are you and Dumbledore supposed to make sure he's 'adjusting' alright after that short a time? Besides, I can take care of my own godson."

"I know you can. But this is a big commitment and everyone wants to make sure it's best for Harry...and for you."

"Six hours, Remus. Six. Hours. That's how long I've had with him, and I've loved every minute of it," he said fiercely, and Harry's heart leaped.

This conversation was what Harry had been dreading. What if people talked Sirius out of having him, because he was a burden? Worse, what if Sirius realized he didn't want him, instead of having others do it for him?

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm not saying you aren't ready for this or that Harry's a difficult kid. But he's got a lot on his plate, Sirius, and always will. Keep that in mind."

Harry chose that minute to come back in the room. He looked from Sirius back to Lupin and back again. Remus looked down at his shoes, clearly assuming that Harry had heard at least a bit of his conversation. "I'm really not hungry, I think I'd rather skip dinner and, uhm, write a letter. See you later."

Without looking back, Harry ran upstairs and slammed the door. He flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes. Both of their words echoed in his head; Lupin's doubting ones and Sirius's confident ones. He didn't want to think anymore. His mind was full. What if this didn't turn out the way he wanted it to?

A/N: I always imagined that's how Harry would react to learning more about his parents..and that he would be really emotional but not want to express it to just anyone. I don't know. Hope you liked it : )


	4. Reassurance

**A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed : ) I still don't own Harry Potter...egads. **

**Here's the next chappie ; ) Something different...this one will be from Sirius'/Remus' point of view. I might do that every once in a while, to mix it up.**

"Yeah, well, I've got to go to the bathroom," Harry stood up abruptly and left the room. Sirius sat back down on the couch next to Remus and sighed.

"Is he okay?" Remus asked, looking Sirius in the eye. "Tell me the truth, Sirius."

"He's fine. He got kind of upset when we were looking at pictures of Lily and James, but, you know, I handled it." Sirius closed the photo album and stacked it on top. "He's so much like Lily. He's more sensitive than he lets on. I think he wants everyone to think he's so tough and can handle everything, but he needs someone to listen to him and take care of him, too."

Remus nodded. They sat in silence for a few seconds before he said, "Are you up to doing this, Sirius? Taking care of Harry?"

"What are you talking about?" The words stunned Sirius. Was he up to taking care of his godson? Of course he was, what sort of question was that?

"I mean, are you up to this? It's a huge commitment, Sirius, taking care of Harry. He's only 13 and-"

"He's almost 14, in case you forgot."

"I know, he's almost 14, but he's just a boy still and he's going to get attached to you. You're like a brother to me, Sirius, but you can be slightly...impetuous at times. If the going gets rough at some point, as it's bound to happen, you can't just change your mind and drop him off at the Dursley's doorstep. That would kill him."

"Where the hell is this coming from? I thought you were my lifelong friend, Remus, not the parenting police! I know I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I haven't exactly been perfect. But you can't deny that I loved James and Lily and I...well, I love Harry too." Sirius glared at his old friend.

"I know how much you cared for Lily and James. And I'm not trying to bring you down, I just want you to be realistic. Dumbledore thinks...well, he's concerned. You just got out of a 12 year stint in Azkaban after the whole world thought you a mass murderer. It's not ridiculous to assume you might not be up to this. And Harry really can't take much more instability."

"So now you think I've gone mad from being in Azkaban, eh? Think that I can't do anything? Or maybe I'll just make Harry's life worse, or at least threaten his 'stability'." Sirius said with disgust in his voice.

"I told you, Sirius, it's not me that thinks that, it's Dumbledore! I promised him I'd stop by and see if things were getting on okay, if Harry was adjusting okay."

"Remus, he's been here for a total of 6 hours, how on earth are you and Dumbledore supposed to make sure he's 'adjusting' alright after that short a time? Besides, I can take care of my own godson." Sirius pushed himself up and away from Remus, unable to look at him, having a hard time hearing over his heart pounding in his ears.

"I know you can. But this is a big commitment and everyone wants to make sure it's best for Harry...and for you." Remus wrung his hands, anguish written all over his face. He looked like he was rethinking his decision to come here; maybe he should've made Dumbledore do this himself.

"Six hours, Remus. Six. Hours. That's how long I've had with him, and I've loved every minute of it," Sirius said fiercely, knowing that he meant every word of it.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm not saying you aren't ready for this or that Harry's a difficult kid. But he's got a lot on his plate, Sirius, and always will. Keep that in mind." Remus looked up and saw Harry standing in the shadows outside of the living room. "Oh, Harry."

"Harry!" Sirius said, walking over to him. "Are you-"

"Look, I'm really not hungry, I'd rather skip dinner and, uhm, write a letter. To Ron and Hermione. See you later." And Harry was gone, up the stairs in a flash.

Sirius watched his godson fly from the room and he sank into an armchair and put his head in his hands. "He probably heard every word and now he's going to think I don't want him."

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I shouldn't have come here. It's just that Harry is...a piece of Lily and James. I got close with him in this past year and I care about him a lot. I also care about you a lot; you're like family. I want to make sure you're both going to be okay."

Sirius knew that this was just Remus's way. He had always been the careful one, the quiet one, the serious one, the one who thought things through. He truly didn't mean to upset Sirius or Harry; he just wanted them both to be happy and he worried that this wouldn't work out and both of them would be miserable.

"Remus, I know this whole thing is part because Dumbledore is worried and mostly because you are slightly pessimistic and worried, too. And another part because you care" Sirius grinned and lightly punched his friend on the shoulder. "But please don't worry. Everything will work out for the best. And now, I have to go talk to Harry and find out what he heard and if he's okay."

"Please, let me do it."

Remus climbed the stairs and looked around. The only one with the light on underneath the door was at the end; figuring that was Harry's, he tentatively knocked on the door.

A surly teenage voice said, "Come in." Remus opened the door and came inside. Harry was laying on his bed with his arms crossed, staring at the ceiling.

"You look like you're, uh, settling in nicely." He dragged out a chair and sat opposite Harry. "I'm sure Hedwig is happy not to have to be cooped up in her cage all the time." He gently stroked the owl's feathers, who had landed on the desk right next to Remus.

"What are you doing up here? I heard you talking, you don't think I should be living with Sirius, you think I'm too difficult and that he can't take care of me." Harry said bitterly.

"No, no, no, Harry, please don't think that...that's why I came up here. I only came here to talk to Sirius because I think you're a wonderful boy and I want to make sure this is best for you. You know that Sirius just got out of Azkaban...I didn't want anything to happen to you. It was silly of me to worry. I can see now how much Sirius loves you."

Harry sat up and looked at Remus. "Sirius loves me?"

"If he didn't, he would have let you go back and live with the Dursleys. So I am sorry Harry, for upsetting you and Sirius. Forgive me?"

"Yeah." Harry offered a smile at him.

"Good." Remus nodded and stood up. "What do you say we go downstairs and have some dinner?"

It was after 10 when Sirius closed the door and Remus Lupin walked down the disappearing steps of Number 12 Grimmauld Place and apparated back home. Harry was standing in the hallways behind his godfather, and he stretched and yawned. It had been a very long day; it was hard to believe that this morning he had had breakfast in the Great Hall and ridden on the Hogwarts Express. It felt like at least a week had flown by since then.

"I bet you're tired, Harry. Think it's time for bed? It is for me, at least." Sirius asked, yawning and stretching himself.

"Yeah, I think so." he nodded. The pair trooped up the stairs together and Harry started to walk towards his bedroom, when he felt Sirius' hand on his shoulder.

"Harry. I'm really sorry if you felt that, well, that I didn't really want you or that I couldn't take care of you. Remus is a worrywart and-"

"You don't have to explain, he already did. It's okay. I'm used to a lot more than this, I promise." Harry said with a grin. "Goodnight."

"Night." Sirius said.

Once he was behind the safety of his own door, Sirius sat down at his desk and took out some parchment, ink and a quill. He wasn't mad at anyone, but he felt like he needed to say what he had to say.

He thought for a moment, then put the quill to the parchment.

_Albus,_

_I appreciate the concern that I know you have for Harry. He means a great deal to you and I respect that._

_However, he also means a great deal to me, and I know that this will be a good thing for both of us. I'm excited to be, well,a parent to Harry and I hope that I can continue to count on you for advice, because I am sure I will need it. _

_If you're still concerned, feel free to contact me._

_Hoping this finds you well,_

_Sirius_

Sirius went downstairs and out the back door. "Harper!" He called. A moment later, a tawny owl flew over to Sirius and landed on his arm. "I've got a letter for you." He tied the letter to Harper's outstretched leg and the owl flew off into the night, taking away at least a little of Sirius's concerns about parenting away with him.

A/N: Next chapter, I'm thinking about having Harry and Sirius go through some of the stuff a lot of parents go through with kids...stuff a lot of teenagers do, but that Harry hasn't done before because he was with the Dursleys. This might mean we pretend that Harry, Ron and Hermione live closer than is indicated in the books lol. Any suggestions, feel free to leave them : ]


	5. Expectations

_A/N: Still don't own Harry Potter : [_

_The positive reviews are amazing. Thanks everyone!_

_Enjoy._

One morning exactly one week before his 14th birthday, Harry woke up and rolled over in bed. He rubbed his forehead and reached for his glasses on his bedside table. His room had become "lived in" in the past three weeks. Simply put, it was pretty trashed. Hermione's last 2 letters, both carelessly unanswered, were laying on the floor next to his bed and Ron's was on his desk. All of his textbooks and old pieces of parchment were strewn about; his jeans and dirty t-shirts were on the floor, and Hedwig's cage needed to be cleaned. Sirius had asked him to clean it up a few times, but he hadn't yet.

It had been three weeks since the end of term, and life with Sirius was surprisingly, well, normal. As normal as being an almost 14-year-old wizard living with an adult ex-convict wizard could be, that is. Harry had settled comfortably in his life at Grimmauld Place, and his first night, which had not been entirely happy, was long forgotten. Harry opened his door and saw that Sirius' bedroom door was still closed; he went downstairs and sat on the couch in the living room, picking up a book entitled _Curses and You-How to Protect Yourself_ off the coffee table, and began to read. His mind wandered as he read, though.

As happy as he genuinely was and as much as he loved Sirius, Harry had become, well, slightly rebellious and careless. He had never had the liberty of being a 'normal' teenager before, always having to toe the line with the Dursleys. At the very least he had to keep out of their way, but he had rarely dared to outright disobey them. With Sirius, he felt more relaxed and at ease than he had in his whole life; he knew he was living with someone who cared about him and wouldn't get rid of him just because his room was messy or he mouthed off once in a while or he left his sneakers at the bottom of the stairs. Speaking of the last one...

"OW!" Suddenly Harry heard a yell, and then a thud. Harry winced and set the book back on the table and went around the corner. Sirius was on the ground and rubbing his shin. He took his wand out and pointed it at the sneakers and they flew across the room, arranging themselves neatly by the front door.

"Harry, how many times do I have to tell you to move your shoes? It's not that difficult!" Sirius stood up and brushed off his robes as he stared at his godson.

"I'm sorry! I meant to before I went to bed last night. I forgot."

"And have you cleaned your room yet? It was a pigsty last time I checked."

"Uhm..."Harry murmured, thinking of the parchment, letters and clothes all over his room. 'Not exactly."

Sirius sighed. "Harry, I wouldn't be asking you to do this stuff if it wasn't important. Don't leave your shoes where people will trip on them and clean up your room. Today. After breakfast."

"Sorry." Harry muttered, turning around and walking into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of juice and Sirius came in and set two bowls on the table. They both poured themselves bowls of cereals and ate in silence for a few moments.

As Sirius finished up, he said, "So I was wondering if you wanted to ask Ron and Hermione to come stay for a little while. It's not that exciting around here and I don't want you ALWAYS to be bored." He said with a wink. "This is providing that you clean your room up, of course."

Did he want Ron and Hermione to come stay? He did, he had mentioned it to them the day they left Hogwarts...but he was feeling so distanced from them. He hadn't answered any of their letters, not one in the past three weeks, and Ron had stopped sending them all together.

"You can ask Ron tonight, Molly asked if we would like to come for dinner and I said we'd be there." Sirius said as he rinsed out his bowl with a flick of his wand.

"I don't want to go to the Burrow for dinner." Harry said as he got up from the table and looked out the kitchen window.

"Why not? You haven't seen Ron or any of the Weasleys all summer; Hermione's not there but she will be in a couple of days. Is there something you're not telling me?" Sirius asked, standing behind him and putting his hand lightly on Harry's shoulder. Immediately, he turned around.

"No, and I haven't talked with any of them all summer, either and I don't want to start tonight." Harry brushed past Sirius and went upstairs. He half expected him to follow him; if he'd done anything, Sirius had proved himself to be slightly intrusive and unsure of what his boundaries should be. Once Harry was back in his room, he threw on jeans and a t shirt and sat down at his desk. He shuffled papers around and eventually came by the letters Ron had written him that summer. He picked up the first one, dated three days after everyone's return home, and started to read it:

_Hey, Harry,_

_How's everything going with Sirius so far? I hope it's good, both of you deserve a little bit of happiness. _

_Not much is new around here, Mum's been fussing over me after what happened. She's worried I've been maimed for life, even though clearly Madam Pomfrey did a good job mending my leg. She's made me promise about a dozen times that the three of us won't go getting into any trouble next term. What do you think the chances are of that happening, eh?_

_We all still really want you to come visit this summer and now that you're a bit closer, maybe Sirius'll let you ride your broom here or something. That would be awesome!_

_Talk to you soon, Harry._

_Cheers,_

_Ron_

Harry shuffled through the three or four more letters he'd received, all of which contained questions of what he was doing and why he wasn't writing; Hermione's were very much the same. Their letters went from how are you doing, to are you okay?, to you better answer me!

Suddenly, guilt began to overwhelm him. These were his two best friends; they had gone through so much together, and he couldn't even bother to answer a simple letter? And all because he had been busy ignoring what Sirius asked him to do and being a selfish kid. That was what it boiled down to.

He swept everything off of his desk except a piece of parchment, and then he dug around in his trunk for some ink and a quill. He was seeing Ron later, it was pointless to send him a letter now. The most he could do was try to explain himself and apologize and hope that Ron would forgive him. But it wasn't too late to send a letter to Hermione.

_Hermione,_

_First I want to say that I'm sorry for not answering any of your letters until now. I feel bad about it and I wish I could go back and change it, but I can't. I'm sorry. You probably want a reason why I haven't written, and it's pretty simple, but it's really stupid, even I can admit that. Well, here it goes. The_ _reason I haven't written you or Ron back is because I started to feel, well, normal and I didn't want anything to break it up. _

_I didn't want to be "The Boy Who Has The Whole World On His Shoulders". I wanted to be Harry who lived with his godfather and had someone who loved him and sometimes was a jerk. And somehow I pulled you and Ron into it and you became a part of my not wanting to face anything but happiness. It was mad of me and I'm sorry._

_I could use some of your rationality right now, Hermione. Some of your brilliance and wit, too. I miss you._

_To answer your question, living with Sirius is great. I'm happy and have a home for the first time in almost 13 years. He's kind of put up with me being a prat the past couple days, so he's a trooper. We're having dinner with Ron and his family tonight so I'm going to try and apologize to Ron then. _

_By the way, Sirius said I could ask you two to spend a little time here. I hope you don't hate me too much to say yes._

_Love, Harry_

A few hours later, Sirius knocked on his door, and Harry called "Come in!"

"Whoa, what a turnaround!" Sirius said happily, looking around at his clean room. "Looks good in here."

"Thanks." Harry said, dropping the last of his spellbooks in his trunk and kicked it closed. "Uhm, I have a bunch of laundry that needs doing..."

"I'll take care of it." Sirius said, looking at the giant laundry basket full of all of Harry's clothes. "I'm sure Molly could give me a few pointers tonight. Have you changed your mind about coming?"

"Yeah. I have to apologize to Ron...I haven't written him back at all this summer." Harry looked around at his clean room, and eventually met Sirius' eyes. "I'm sorry I haven't listened to you."

Sirius walked over to him. "You know, you look so much like James...but you are so like your mother. Come here, kid."

Harry came over to him and Sirius gripped him in a tight hug. "You don't have to apologize for being a teenager...I prefer that you listen to me but you're going to slip up sometimes and I get that. Let your guard down once in a while, Harry. You have a lot going on but you don't have to be perfect."

"Thanks Sirius." Harry murmured.


	6. Mischevious

**A/N: Still don't own Harry Potter.**

**Leave me ideas of stuff you'd like to read about and I will do my best to incorporate it...I am always up for suggestions and will give you proper credit, of course. ;] Thanks, as always, for reading.**

Dinner at the Weasley's was something that should have been easy for Harry, something to look forward to. He had basically become part of their family over the last few years, and they all meant a great deal to him. But while he figured most of the Weasley's would be kind to him as usual, he knew meeting with Ron would not be as easy. He was an easily hurt and not so easily forgiving person, Ron, and with Harry ignoring him for almost a month, he was very likely to be upset.

Nevertheless, if he was to make things right, he would have to actually show up and try to do so. Harry quickly changed into some jeans a blue sweater, changed his socks and then took the stairs two at a time. Sirius was waiting by the door, already ready to leave. Harry quickly jammed his feet into his trainers, then stood next to his godfather.

After a quick, yet nauseating, trip apparating, Harry and Sirius arrived outside the Burrow. The front door opened a moment later and Mrs. Weasley came outside.

"Sirius! Harry! I thought I heard something...it's wonderful to see you both!" She came over and immediately seized Harry in a tight hug. "Come in, come in, dinner's almost ready."

Once they both stepped inside, Harry immediately felt a sense of...home rush over him. Even though he now called Sirius' house his home, being at the Burrow still felt special. It had been the first place that wasn't Hogwarts that felt like home, where he'd known he was cared about.

"Ron is in the other room with Fred and George if you want to go through there, Harry." Molly said kindly. He nodded and went through, saying hello to Mr. Weasley on his way.

"Hi, Harry." Fred and George said in unison. They were both sitting on the couch, Fred playing Wizard Chess with Ron, and Ginny was sitting in a chair in the corner knitting something. She offered Harry a smile, but Ron was clearly ignoring him.

"How's your summer?" George asked as Fred took his move on the chess board.

"Been okay, I suppose. And yours?" He asked.

"Brilliant. Fred and I've been working on a lot of stuff, but with not much cash flow it's been slightly difficult." George said.

"Your move, Ron." Fred said. His face was bright red as he moved one of his pieces.

Everyone in the room had finally noticed the silent struggle between Harry and Ron. Harry had been staring at him, willing him to look up and Ron had been pointedly keeping his head down, staring at the chess pieces and turning redder and redder as the time wore on. Finally, after a few silent minutes, Ron's eyes met Harry's.

"You're a real git, you know that?" Ron said angrily. "I know you've gone off and gotten this fairy tale life you wanted but you didn't have to forget me and Hermione on the way, did you?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen...I just..." Harry was at a loss. "Look, Ron, I really am sorry. I am. Living with Sirius made me feel so much like you all must feel every day and somehow your letters got caught up in it...not answering them, I mean." Ron was relaxing a little. "I know I've been acting like a prat, I have been to Sirius as well, but I'm back to normal now, I swear."

With a slightly sheepish look on his face, Ron mumbled under his breath, "Have you written to Hermione?"

"Only just this morning."

"Well...okay, then." Ron said in a voice that indicated he had folded. A smile came onto his face and his red hair shone violently under the lights in the living room. "You're still a prat, though." Harry laughed.

"Fair enough."

Fred and George and Ginny had watched the scene unfolding before them silently, but when it seemed as if everything had gone back to normal, the twins' faces both broke into huge grins.

"Aww, are the little boys back to being friendsies?" George teased.

"Yeah, don't go fighting like that again...you scared us out of our wits!" Fred said, laughing.

"Shut up, the pair of you." Ron said with a scowl, just as Molly called them all into the kitchen for dinner.

The boys sat next to each other at dinner and talked as they both ate huge helpings of the delicious food. Ron talked about how much better he was getting at being on a broom, what with all of the quidditch practice he'd been getting with the twins, and how his mother had been driving him pretty much bonkers all summer. "I swear, Harry, it's like she's got nothing better to do. Worse than ever, I mean, she's got other kids, why doesn't she focus on them?"

Harry told Ron all about living with Sirius. About how sometimes it was still a little awkward, but mostly they got along well and how he was like a real dad to Harry. "It's weird, because I can't remember having a real parent...and I feel guilty because Sirius isn't my real Dad but I feel like my parents would want me to be happy with him."

"They would." Ron said simply before he dug into his dessert.

"Oh, by the way, Sirius said I could ask you and Hermione to spend a little while over at our house."

"That sounds awesome! Sirius is so cool. Plus it'll be nice to get away from Mum for a little while." Ron muttered under his breath so Molly couldn't hear him.

At the end of the night, after everyone had had another glass of butterbeer and they were all full and sleepy, Sirius said, "Well, we better get going. Thanks for dinner, Molly, it was delicious."

Everyone stood up and they all were saying their goodbyes. Harry turned to Ron to say bye and say that he'd be writing him soon to have him come stay. However, Ron was already looking at Harry with a mischievous look in his eye.

"What do you say we have a little bit of fun tonight? I'll meet you at your house on my broom at 1am."

Harry looked over at Sirius, who was laughing at something Arthur had said to him. He had just promised earlier that morning, not just to Sirius but himself as well that he would be good, and wouldn't do anything to upset his godfather. But it was a nice summer evening...and he hadn't flown his broom in so long...and Ron had forgiven him easily...

"Okay, I'll meet you out front at 1." Harry said, smiling slightly.

**A/N: Naughty children. Haha. This chapter is slightly filler, but I liked it!**


	7. Mistakes

**A/N: I know this disclaimer may get slightly annoying to read...but I am paranoid. I do not own Harry Potter. :] Thanks to all those who read, review and add to favorites/story alert. I appreciate it.**

At 12:45am, Harry got out of bed quietly and changed into his jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Even though it was the middle of July, it would be cold once they were riding on their brooms. After he had finished getting dressed, he grabbed his Firebolt and opened his door slowly. Sirius had gone to bed shortly after they got home from the Weasley's, and his door was shut tight, no light underneath it at all. As quietly and slowly as possible, Harry snuck down the hall, past Sirius' room, and down the stairs. The third step from the bottom squeaked and he narrowly avoided hitting it. A few more silent steps later and after shutting the door as gently as possible, and he was outside.

Harry sat on the curb to wait and set his broom next to him. He looked up at the inky black sky. It was a clear, cloudless night, probably not the best to be flying in, but he really didn't care. He hadn't flown in months, and ever since he had agreed to do this earlier, he had been aching to do so. To feel the wind rushing through his body, the adrenaline pulsing through his veins, the feeling of weightlessness and of leaving everything that hurt behind him. Flying meant everything to him.

Suddenly, Harry was shaken out of his thoughts as Ron made a smooth landing in front of him and dismounted his broom. His Shooting Star was no match for the Firebolt in speed and precision, but with the extra practice that he'd been supposedly getting with the twins, he had improved loads already and it had been clear that he was making the most of the broom. Ron was dressed similarly to Harry, in jeans and a long sleeve shirt, with a backpack on his back.

"Hey. Ready to go?" Ron asked.

Harry got up and grabbed his broom. "Yeah, where are we going?"

"Wherever. A park or something, I don't care. I had to get out of the house. It's a miracle I got out without Fred and George seeing me, not to mention I had to get the broom out of the shed out back. Everything fell all over me, I was sure I was a goner. But I managed to get something so we could have a little fun before I left." Ron took his backpack off and pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey.

Harry shifted a little and said, "Are you sure you want to do this, Ron?" To be honest, he wasn't sure where this was coming from. Sure, he and Ron weren't exactly the most well behaved boys in the world, but they had never done anything approaching this before, and they tried not to cause trouble unless it was important.

"Yes, I'm sure. I've been trapped in my house all summer, my mother keeping after me every second like I'm a baby, and I can't take it anymore. I want to do this. It's okay if you don't want to. But I'm going to have fun tonight."

This was more than Harry had bargained for when he had found out that they were going to sneak out. Part of him thought Ron was just pretending to be a hard ass, but after he looked in his friend's eyes, he knew he was serious. That he wanted to do this. Harry couldn't just let him go off on his own and not know where he went. So he gave Ron his answer by mounting his broom. "We'll find someplace."

The two boys kicked off the ground and soared off into the dark night. As Harry flew around and around, nothing but the chilly night air surrounding him, he felt completely at peace. He had missed this, more than he'd realized. He needed to fly. Nothing else in the world made him feel this way.

Periodically, Harry looked behind him to make sure Ron was still following, and he always was. After about twenty minutes in the air, Harry looked down and saw a park that he had frequented when he lived with the Dursleys. It was sure to be deserted at 1:30am, so Harry looped back and yelled to Ron, "Follow me, I've found somewhere!" Two minutes later, both pairs of feet hit the ground safely, their hearts hammering in their chests and Harry personally feeling tons better about this whole adventure. He was feeling slightly reckless, just as Ron appeared to be feeling. They flopped in the grass and Ron unzipped his backpack yet again, taking out the bottle.

Ron took a big drink and held it away from him immediately, coughing hard. Tears were in his eyes, and his face was slightly red, but he nevertheless passed the bottle over. Harry held it tightly by the neck and stared at the label for a few seconds. He didn't waste anymore time obsessing over whether or not this was the right thing to do; he tipped the bottle to his lips and took a big drink. His throat instantly stung, tears in his eyes as well, as his stomach threatened to bring it back up. He hastily handed the bottle back to Ron and laid back in the grass, taking deep breaths. The wave of nausea passed, and before he knew it, he was reaching for it again.

45 minutes later, the boys were both laying in the grass laughing hysterically about something neither of them could pinpoint. The bottle was empty, laying forgotten next to them. Finally, Harry sat up and straightening his glasses, which had half fallen off.

Laughing, he said, "It should be fun flying back home, I can barely see in front of me."

"Mum and Dad are gonna kill me if they find out," Ron giggled and Harry nodded.

"Sirius too!"

Deep in the recesses of Harry's brain, he was feeling guilty about all of this and legitimately nervous about how they would both get home; it wasn't quite the same as drunk driving, but flying on a broom when you were drunk, for the first time, probably wasn't a great idea. Suddenly, this wasn't very funny anymore and Harry just wanted to go home. In fact, part of him wanted to pretend that this had never happened. He looked over at Ron, who could barely sit up. He had had more to drink, and Harry knew that he'd have to get them both back to Sirius' safely. Ron could spend the night and sneak out when he'd sobered up or something.

"Get your broom, we're going. You're riding on the back of mine." Harry said, getting to his feet unsteadily and nearly falling over. "Bloody hell." It took some time to convince Ron that they were just going to get more firewhiskey and get him on the back of his broom, but then they kicked off. This ride was not the same as the one there; he kept veering off course, the buildings were blurry and multiplying, and although he tried to stay low to the ground, he felt himself rising higher and higher. The wind had knocked him a little silly as well as the booze and he just didn't care about this. After several close calls with some tree branches and the rooftops of buildings, and an hour long trip that should've taken twenty minutes, Harry clumsily brought he and Ron to the ground and they dismounted.

He was no longer as drunk as when they'd taken off, but the effects of the alcohol had not worn off yet. Ron had been screaming a story in his ear for the past ten minutes about how pretty Hermione's hair was, and he tried to get him to shut up as they made their way up the steps to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"And ish all shiny and not so frizzy anymore, have you noticed, Harry? And-"

"Ron, would you be quiet? You'll wake Sirius!" Harry said, opening the front door as quietly as he could.

"Why're we at Sirius' place, Harry, you said we were just going to get more, you said that." Ron said in an angry voice. Harry's attempts to get Ron to shut up were quickly abandoned when all the lights flew on as soon as they stepped foot in the foyer.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Sirius was standing in front of the boys at the base of the stairs, in a robe, staring at them angrily. "Where the hell have you been? Get in here right now!" Sirius grabbed Harry's and Ron's brooms and threw them aside roughly, steering both boys into the living room. "You smell like a damn bar. Are you DRUNK?" As soon as they were in the living room, Sirius brought out his wand and cast a patronus, which left into the moonlight.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"My patronus sent to tell Molly and Arthur that Ron is here and he's safe." Sirius said angrily.

Harry and Ron were shoved into spots on the couch. "Sirius, I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't mean to what, Harry? Sneak out, thinking that I wouldn't notice, and get drunk? Merlin's beard, you're 13 years old, what the hell were you and Ron thinking?" Sirius paced back and forth in front of his godson.

"I'll be 14 in a few days." Harry said angrily, suddenly feeling 100% sober. Ron, on the other hand, was watching the two as if it was a tennis match, and his eyes were drooping.

Sirius sat down on the coffee table in front of Harry, staring directly into the green eyes that so resembled his mother's. "You do not get to take off in the middle of the night, apparently get drunk when you are 13 years old and nearly kill you and your also-drunk best friend on a broomstick and then mouth off to me, young man. You don't get to talk to me like that. Not right now and not ever." Sirius said firmly.

"I was just trying to have a little bit of fun! It's summer holidays and I wanted to fly and I didn't even plan on getting drunk, it just...happened! I bet you and Dad would have done the same thing. When did you become such a stick in the mud?" Harry said angrily, feeling slighted. This whole time he had felt like Sirius was both a friend and father-figure but now...he was not being understanding, as Harry had secretly hoped he would be.

"I know you want to have fun but I don't care if it's bloody summer holidays, this was the most dangerous thing you could have ever done! What if you'd fallen off, or hit something, or been seen? I don't understand why you would do this. So the answer to your question, when did I become a stick in the mud? When I became responsible for you and your safety and started to love you!" Sirius said, grabbing Harry's shoulders and shaking him slightly.

The reality of what he had done had started to sink in, and the reality that living with Sirius was not just a free-for-all pass to do whatever he wanted. He'd been stupid to do this with Ron. Going out for a fly was one thing entirely; he'd have been in trouble, sure, but getting drunk was plain stupid. Sirius was right.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Harry said, to his embarrassment and shock, starting to cry. "I said I would listen to you, I promised, and this was so dumb. You're right, Sirius. You're probably going to pack me up and send me back to the Dursleys and I wouldn't even blame you." He said miserably.

Sirius watched him for a few moments before he said, "Did you not hear me? I love you, Harry, and you are not going anywhere." He hugged him, ruffling his hair gently. "You'd better go to bed."

"But what about-?" Harry looked at Ron, who had fallen asleep or passed out, he was unsure of which, on the couch next to him.

"He'll be alright till morning." Sirius said. "Now go to bed...now."

As Harry trooped up the stairs, staring at his feet, he heard Sirius say, "And don't think we're done talking about this, Harry...you're not off the hook!"


	8. Punishment

**A/N: Ahh! So many people have favorited and added to story alert and reviewed! You rock!**

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

After his confrontation with Sirius, Harry dragged himself up the stairs and went to sleep. It was 3:30 in the morning, and every bone in his body was exhausted. He clicked off the light, climbed into bed with his clothes on, and set his glasses on his night stand.

That night, Harry dreamed of his parents.

He was walking downstairs for some reason, and the house was eerily quiet. There was always some noise going on, so for it to be that silent was unnatural. He walked straight into the living room and saw his parents sitting on the couch.

"Mom. Dad." He said quietly, and went over and tried to hug them. But there was nothing, no way to touch them. Even in his dreams, he couldn't be comforted by a hug from his parents. He looked at them with pain in his eyes, and noticed that they both shared the same look.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Lily said, and she didn't have to identify why-Harry knew it was because he couldn't touch them, couldn't feel their embrace. He had resigned himself a long time ago to this fact, but for some reason, seeing them sitting there right in front of him made that fact seem far more cruel. He hadn't seen them so close in anything but a photograph in a long time, since he'd discovered the Mirror of Erised in his first year at Hogwarts.

"Look at you," Lily said, beaming at him with tears in her eyes. "You're so grown up, I can't believe you're almost 14."

Harry blushed and looked down at his shoes, then after a second he looked over at his father. James had just been looking at him, but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"You're growing into a man." James finally said, and Harry smiled slightly at his father. "Harry, that means you need to act like one. I know you're not an adult yet, but you can't be as reckless as you were tonight."

"You guys know about tonight?" Harry said quickly.

"Yes, we do." James said. "Everyone makes mistakes, Harry. No one loves you any less for it."

"But, sweetheart, you can't do that anymore. The person we wanted to take care of you more than anything, if something happened to us, was Sirius. And now that this has finally happened, after all those years...we want you to respect him. He knows what is best for you and he cares about you a lot." Lily said, looking into Harry's eyes that mirrored her own.

"And we cannot believe that you'd do something so dangerous and stupid! Do you have any idea what could have happened?" James said.

"Alright, alright, I'm already getting it from Sirius, do I have to get it from my dead parents, too?" Harry said bitterly.

"You do not talk like that to your elders. Not to Sirius, and not to us." Lily said sternly.

Harry looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm trying. It's hard, not having you here. I just wanted to have a little bit of fun."

"We know, honey, but-" Lily's voice was cut off as Harry heard a sharp knocking noise. The dream vanished around him and he opened his eyes. He was in his bedroom, lying in his own bed. His eyes didn't want to be open, and he was still exhausted, but the person knocking at the door wasn't going away. Harry climbed out of bed and shuffled over to the door, yanking it open. Ron stood in front of the door, looking like he'd been run over by a truck but also looking very nervous.

"Uh, Harry...we're supposed to come downstairs...my parents are here and I'm pretty sure between them and Sirius we're going to die." Ron said as he shifted his weight back and forth.

"Shit." Harry muttered, looking down at his rumpled clothes. His shirt was wrinkly and one sleeve was pushed up to his elbow. The button on his jeans was undone, probably from tossing and turning in his bed, and he somehow still smelled like firewhiskey. So did Ron. "I think I'm gonna change-"

"RONALD WEASLEY! Get down here NOW!" Molly Weasley's loud voice rang up the stairs, and was quickly mirrored by Sirius'.

"You too, Harry! I want to see you down here right now!"

Harry groaned. "Guess there's no time to change. Come on." The two boys tripped nervously down the stairs and went into the living room, where Arthur, Molly and Sirius were sitting on the couch right where James and Lily had sat in Harry's dream. He had to shake his head a little to get the image of them there out of his mind. He longed to be back in the dream, to apologize to his parents for letting them down, for not living up to what he ought to be.

"_First_ of all," Molly said, her cheeks turning a bright pink color as she began her lecture, "I have no idea what you boys were thinking last night. What you did was extremely dangerous, not to mention stupid, not to mention reckless, not to mention irresponsible! When Ginny told us she'd heard noises coming from the woodshed and we investigated and found that you and your broom were gone, Ronald, oh, if you'd have been there I would have killed you!"

"Ginny..." Ron whispered under his breath.

"Don't you even think about blaming your sister for all of this! She was 100% right in alerting us! Not only did you boys sneak out on your brooms, on a completely cloudless night, what could've happened if you'd been seen, but you snuck out and got drunk! At 14 years old, no less!" Molly finished breathlessly.

Sirius finished where she left off. "We're all disappointed in you boys, we expected better from you. We know you're young and make mistakes, but this was a big one. Harry, you're grounded for a month." Sirius said angrily. "And if I find out you've snuck out again, it'll be longer. I'll find a way to ground you at Hogwarts."

"But that's nearly the rest of summer!" Harry exclaimed.

"You should've thought of that last night," Sirius said.

"You're grounded for a month as well, Ronald." Molly said, and Arthur nodded, clearly more than glad to let his wife do the disciplining. "And we'll have to think about whether or not you two can be trusted to spend time together after that."

The boys looked at each other and groaned. "We made one mistake!" Ron said exasperatedly.

"Like Sirius said, Ron, this was a big one. You know better than to go flying by yourself, especially at night and you know not to be drinking. You aren't old enough." Arthur said.

"Gather your things, Ron, it's time to be going." Molly said angrily.

They all stood up and waited as Ron jammed his feet into his shoes and grabbed his broom, which Sirius had leaned into the corner by the front door. "See ya in a month, I guess," he said to Harry, who nodded and waved in response. Molly came over and took Harry's face in her hands.

"Harry, don't think we care for you any less. But we can't have the two of you sneaking off and doing dangerous things, anything could happen, anything could be out there. Take care of yourself," she said. Arthur clapped him on the shoulder as he went out.

Once the Weasleys had left, Harry looked over at Sirius who was standing with his arms crossed and looking at him. "Alright, let me have it." Sirius said.

"Let you have what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Here's where you argue about your punishment, right?"

"No, actually. What we did was stupid and I was disrespectful to you last night. I really meant it when I said I was sorry." Harry rocked on his feet for a second. "I'm exhausted. Is it okay if I get some more sleep?"

Sirius had a surprised look on his face, but he managed to wipe it off before he nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Come down whenever you want something to eat."

"Thanks," Harry said, dragging himself back upstairs and into his comfortable bed.

After Harry was gone, Sirius looked over at the coffee table, where there was a framed picture of Lily and James. He looked into the eyes of his best friend and his wife, the two amazing people who had brought that boy upstairs into the world. He said to them quietly, "Don't worry, guys. I'm taking care of him. And he's a good kid, you know? He did a bad thing last night, but he is a good kid. You'd be proud of him." He touched the top of the frame and then went into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast.

**A/N: Next chapter...Diagon Alley to get school supplies :)**


	9. Happy Birthday pt 1

**A/N: Thanks for all the love, guys! I still don't own Harry Potter ;] Damn. **

**So it was brought to my attention that I forgot about the Quidditch World Cup...so that will be addressed. ;] Keep in mind that according to Harry Potter Wiki the World Cup was held August 22, 1994 and Harry was grounded on, let's say, July 23. **

Harry came downstairs the morning of his birthday at around 10:30am, yawning. He had gone to bed late the night before, looking at pictures from the photo album Hagrid had given him a few years earlier and wondering what his birthday would be like with his parents. Whenever he stayed up late, he usually ended up thinking about his mum and dad, wondering what life would be like if he lived with them. He imagined coming down for breakfast and having his mother give him a kiss and ask him how he slept the night before; his father reading the Daily Prophet and scoffing at whatever idiotic thing the Ministry was up to that day. He imagined his mother telling him he desperately needed a haircut and his Dad telling him that he'd better be studying hard in school. He didn't know why his parents in his imagination were stereotypical 'perfect' parents. It was probably because he had nothing to compare it to.

When he had stayed at the Dursleys, or was living in the castle, he hadn't thought anything of his late night musings of what his life would have been like. But now that he was living with Sirius, and was part of a real family, he found that he was feeling extremely guilty about it. Part of his head told him that it was perfectly normal for someone who had never known his parents to wonder about what his life would have been like with them, and there was nothing to feel guilty about. But the strange side of his brain, the one that usually reared its ugly head late at night, reminded him that his parents had died protecting him, and that he should just be grateful that Sirius was there for him. But it was his birthday, and he didn't want to think about it today, so he pushed the thoughts out of his mind and went into the living room.

Sirius was reading a book and drinking a cup of tea when Harry entered. He looked up and smiled. "Happy birthday, kid!" Sirius said, coming over and giving Harry a hug.

"Thanks." Harry smiled.

"Come on, let's go in the kitchen." Sirius lead him into the next room, where a giant stack of chocolate chip pancakes was sitting in the middle of the table, next to a couple of wrapped presents and an envelope on top of them. "I know I'm not the greatest cook yet, but they should taste all right. No presents until after breakfast, either." Sirius said with a wink.

"They look great," Harry said with a grin as they sat down and he piled a few pancakes onto his plate.

"So, I know you're grounded," Sirius said as the two ate, "but I'm willing to let that slide since it's your birthday today. I'm not the meanest person alive." he said jokingly. "I was thinking today we could do whatever you wanted-play some Quidditch, bum around here, go to Diagon Alley, whatever you want to do-and then later, I invited some people over for dinner to celebrate your birthday. The Weasleys, Remus, Dumbledore, and Hermione. We're going to fetch her from her parents house today, actually. Then...since it's your birthday...your friends can spend the night. Molly said she'd let Ron out of the house for one night."

"Really? That sounds amazing!" Harry said enthusiastically. The thought of playing Quidditch again, getting on his broom again, sounded fantastic, and so did seeing everyone who meant something to him for his birthday. It was incredible that Sirius had arranged this and done this for him...even though he was grounded, even though he'd been terrible before.

They finished breakfast and Sirius immediately pushed the two presents over to him, but not before plucking the card off of the top.

"Card is last. Go ahead," he said with a smile.

"You didn't have to get me anything, Sirius," Harry said.

"Of course I did! You didn't really think I wasn't going to get you anything for your birthday? Now open." He said firmly.

He threw a smile in his direction and then tore the wrapping paper off the smaller of the packages. He was holding a thick, heavy wooden box with some characters carved into the wood on top, ones that he couldn't read. He opened the lid and looked down at a set of solid gold Gobstones, the same set he'd admired many times in Diagon Alley but had held back from buying. "Sirius, this is way too much! Are you kidding me? This is amazing!" Harry said, touching one of the Gobstones and rolling it back and forth.

"I knew you wanted them, but you were never going to buy them for yourself." Sirius said simply, watching as Harry looked at all of the Gobstones.

"Really, Sirius. This is too expensive." Harry said seriously.

"No, it's not. It's something you really wanted and I know you'll use it. Now stop it and open the next box."

Harry couldn't believe that Sirius had gotten him something else besides the expensive set of Gobstones. He couldn't believe he'd got him that at all! He knew that Sirius was fairly wealthy, the Black family being one of the oldest and most noble of Wizarding families left. But he still felt guilty that he'd spent all that money on him. With a little reluctance, Harry tore the wrapping paper off and found himself looking down at a handsome chess set. He opened it and saw all of the pieces inside. It was clearly an older set, one that had been used and re-used many times; he could see the slight crack lines where it had been repaired over and over.

"I know you already have a Wizard's chess set, but this one is special and I'll tell you why." Sirius got up from his seat across the table and sat next to Harry. He picked up one of the knights and set it on the table. "This set belonged to your father. He got it from his parents on his 14th birthday, and he brought it to Hogwarts with him in our fourth year. We must've played a thousand games with this, it was our absolute favorite.

The night your parents died, after Hagrid had come and collected you to take you to the Dursley's, I made myself go inside the house. Almost everything had been completely destroyed, the house was in ruins." Sirius' eyes had pain behind them as he told the story; Harry could almost see the younger Sirius moving through the rubble of the home he had lived in for such a short time. "I was out of my mind with grief and fear, and so confused. But as I walked around, taking in everything, I saw your Dad's old chess set, amongst the ruin of the drawer it had been in. I took it and kept it. It's one of the only things left that reminds me of him. But he would want you to have it. You are his son, and you're like a son to me, too, Harry."

Harry realized with a shock that he had tears in his eyes. There weren't any words to describe what he was feeling. He touched one of the bishops, ran over it with his fingers. His Dad and Sirius had touched these pieces; they had memories firmly attached to them. "I don't know what to say. This is awesome. Thank you." Harry threw his arms around his godfather and hugged him as hard as he could.

He wiped his eyes and looked at the brilliant set of Gobstones and the important set of Wizard's chess. He didn't think he'd ever received more wonderful gifts, and he didn't know how he could possibly thank Sirius enough for what this, and for everything he had done for him.

"Here. Open your card."

Harry opened the envelope and pulled out a card with a moving picture of the two of them fixed to the front. They had their arms around each other, and both were smiling. It was a picture that Remus had taken of them his first night at home. Harry grinned up at Sirius, and then he opened the card. Two pieces of paper fell to the table, but before he could read them, Sirius told him to read the card first.

Harry,

I know that your relationship is a little different, compared to other relationships kids have with their parents and guardians. But I am pleased and proud to be your godfather, and so thankful that I have the chance now, after all these years, to take care of you.

Happy birthday, Harry. I love you.

Sirius

"I love you, too." Harry said quietly, but with a huge smile on his face. "What are these?" He picked up the small pieces of paper that had fallen out of his card, and read them. He froze and looked up. "Are you serious?"

"Why, yes, I am." Sirius said with a wink.

"No, you know what I mean...really? Tickets to the Quidditch World Cup next month? REALLY?" Harry said, starting to laugh.

"Yes, and we're going with Mr. Weasley, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny and Hermione."

"THANK YOU!" Harry yelled, throwing his arms around Sirius yet again.

"I guess you like your gifts, then?" Sirius said with a laugh.

"This is amazing, Sirius, I can't even believe you did all of this for me. I'm so excited for the World Cup!"

"It will be awesome, the seats aren't perfect but they're still pretty good, and I want to experience this with you." Sirius said. "Now what do you say to some Quidditch and then we can go get Hermione?"

Harry nodded. "I'm gonna take my chess set upstairs. Thank you again. So much."

"You're welcome, kid. I hope you have a good birthday."

**A/N: I was gonna write his party in the same chapter, but I am very tired so I'm gonna make it in another chapter, maybe tomorrow ;] plus it's something to look forward to maybe. Haha. P.S. So can you use a set of Wizard's chess more than once? I would hope so. We're going to go with it. **


	10. Happy Birthday pt 2

**A/N: Birthday, part 2. Sorry I didn't include this in one, but I was totally exhausted and wanted to give you guys something to read! Plus I enjoy the nice reviews I get, not gonna lie ;] I'm only human. Enjoy!**

Harry put his chess set away and changed into jeans and a t-shirt, then he went downstairs where Sirius was waiting with both of their broomsticks. After he'd been grounded, Sirius had placed Harry's broomstick in his closet, making sure that there was no way he could break the rules and do it again. Part of him wondered if that was the right way of going about things; maybe he should let him have his broom, possibly showing Harry that he trusted him not to make that bad decision again. But the other part of Sirius's mind said that Harry was a 14 year old boy, and he remembered being that age very well, and it didn't involve him listening closely to what his parents said and learning from every bad thing he did. And Sirius wanted him safe.

The truth of the matter was that no matter how much he loved Harry (and he did love and care about him very much), that didn't change the fact that Sirius was still quite new to the parenting business, and it wasn't something that he had come by naturally. There was still a bit of guesswork going on, and even though he tried his best to present a strong front to everyone-Harry, Remus, Dumbledore, Molly and Arthur-he couldn't deny to himself that he still mulled over each and every decision he made; he still found himself lying awake at night, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Sometimes he felt incredibly guilty, because a tiny part of him had thought that taking care of a 14 year old was simpler than caring for a young child. The truth was, it was just as complicated, but in different ways. Harry was not fully grown, he needed someone there for him, and he hated ot admit it, but he had slightly overlooked that. That didn't change his mind about taking Harry in, no, he wouldn't have changed that for the world...but it was different, that was all. It wasn't like him to worry so much, but his life had indeed changed forever.

To be honest, Sirius had never imagined himself as a parent. Neither had James, he thought, and sometimes when he was feeling slightly panicked, he comforted himself with the knowledge that this hadn't been exactly easy for him either. He remembered James confessing to him after they found out that Lily was pregnant that he wasn't sure how good of a father he would be, and Sirius wondered if he had second guessed himself a lot in the beginning, too.

Harry took his broom from Sirius and smiled. "I can't wait to play, it's been ages."

"Me, too." Sirius said as they headed out into the backyard. "Oh, wait, I forgot...these came for you while you were upstairs." He grabbed a few letters that he'd set on the kitchen counter. "I've got to grab some stuff, go ahead and read them while I do that."

Harry went outside and sat on a chair and opened the first one, which was from Hermione.

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy birthday! I hope you and Sirius have a fabulous day together. He came here and talked to my parents about me spending the night the other day and they've said yes. They think he's wonderful, he was really nice to them. _

_Oh, and when he was here he told me all about you and Ron a week or so ago...something both of you failed to mention! I can't believe you would do something so reckless, we'll talk more about it tonight._

_Can't wait to see you, Harry._

_Love, Hermione_

Harry laughed and folded her letter up, picturing her face when she'd found out about he and Ron's drunken flying adventure. She was probably going to kill them tonight. He opened the next one, which was from Hagrid.

_Dear Harry,_

_Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I'm sendin' my present with Professor Dumbledore tonight, seein' as I can't make it. Got a lot of stuff to do, getting' ready for the school year. It'll be here before you know it. Have a great day, Harry._

_Hagrid_

He smiled again, wondering what Hagrid had gotten him. It was probably a flobberworm farm, or something equally ridiculous. But that was Hagrid, and Harry knew he'd love it regardless. He opened the last letter, seeing that it was from Ron.

_Hey, Harry,_

_Happy birthday! In a few more years we can do what we did the other night without having anybody to yell at us...kidding, of course. Mum'll go mental no matter how old I get._

_What are the chances of convincing Hermione to sneak out tonight? Again, only kidding...I'm learning my lesson, believe me. I can't believe Mum is letting me spend the night with you tonight...it's gonna be wicked! _

_See you later,_

_Ron_

It would be hilarious to see the look on Hermione's face if he and Ron tried to convince her to sneak out...she'd probably look shocked, then get angry and hit them both over the head with large books, and then she'd probably go right to Sirius and tell him what they were planning. Never mind, maybe that joke wasn't such a good idea...but regardless, he was excited for everyone to come over for dinner that night. He set his letters on the counter and went outside just as Sirius was getting out an old Quaffle, which he set on the ground next to his broomstick. Then he took out a tiny fluttering golden Snitch, tapped it twice with his wand, and then put it back into its box.

"What did you do to the Snitch?" Harry asked.

"Bewitched it so that it won't leave the yard, that way I don't have to end up chasing it all over London." Sirius said with a wink. "Who were your letters from?"

"Hermione, Ron and Hagrid. Hagrid said he can't make it for dinner, and Ron and Hermione are both excited about coming to stay for the night."

"Are you excited?" Sirius asked, absentmindedly tossing the Quaffle in the air and catching it.

"Yes, definitely. It's really awesome that you set this up, even after what a prat I was last week." Harry said, mounting his broom and getting ready for their mini game.

"You only turn 14 once. Come on, let's play."

Harry and Sirius played for about an hour and a half, first tossing the Quaffle around for a while, then eventually pitting one against the other as they looked for the Snitch. They did that 5 or 6 times, Harry winning every time, at which point they both flew back to the ground, Sirius chuckling.

"You are just like James...you're truly an amazing Seeker. Job well done, son."

Harry nodded, feeling a slight bit of pride at the fact that Sirius had called him son, and said, "Thanks."

Sirius grabbed the Quaffle and put it into the box it had came from. "We should be getting ready to go, I told Mr. and Mrs. Granger we'd be there around 3 to pick up Hermione." He took the Snitch from Harry's hand and locked it back up in the box, and put everything away back in the shed.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Harry and Sirius were ready to leave. Even though he still didn't like Apparition all that much, he grabbed Sirius's arm and the two set off. A few second later they arrived outside of a quaint little house not that far from his own. Hermione lived just outside of London with her Muggle parents, who were dentists. Harry had never been to Hermione's home before, but it was just as he had pictured it. He and Sirius walked up the path to the front door and knocked.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger opened the door, both of them greeting Harry and Sirius. "Would you like a spot of tea, Sirius?" Mrs. Granger asked, and Sirius nodded and thanked them.

"Harry, Hermione's in her room if you'd like to go see her...straight down the hall and to the left." Mr. Granger said, pointing Harry in the right direction.

Harry knocked tentatively on her door, and heard a soft voice say, "Come in." Shortly after he'd opened the door, he was knocked backwards by a hug from Hermione.

"Harry! I've missed you so much, you have no idea! How have you been? Never mind, I know how you've been, I can't believe what you and Ron did the other night! How stupid of the two of you, honestly, I was in total shock." She said all of this quickly and breathlessly, going from happy to see him to scolding him in five seconds flat.

"I know, it was really stupid...believe me, we're paying for it." Harry said, looking around at her tidy room. It was very Hermione, with books stacked everywhere and a few pictures of the three of them scattered about. A Gryffindor flag was pinned to a corkboard in the corner.

"It wasn't just stupid, Harry, it was downright idiotic. You and Ron could've died! You could have fallen off your broom, or-"

"Hermione," Harry said, cutting her off and gripping her shoulders, "I understand. Trust me." He offered her a smile, and she couldn't help but return it. Hermione grabbed her overnight bag and they went into the living room, where Sirius was finishing up his cup of tea and assuring Hermione's parents that she'd be fine with them. She went and gave her parents hugs goodbye and said she'd be back the next day, then they were off.

Once they got there, Harry gave Hermione a tour of Grimmauld Place, and Sirius rearranged Harry's room with a few flicks of his wand, making room for and then charming in two more beds. For the next few hours, Harry and Hermione talked about what they'd done that summer, in between Harry trying to explain to her how to play Gobstones and impress upon her the brilliance of the set Sirius had gotten him for his birthday. She lectured him a bit more on his night time adventures with Ron (but Harry knew that was just Hermione being Hermione) and told him about a trip she'd taken with her parents to Paris. Harry told her about playing Quidditch with Sirius and all of the things he had told him about his mother and father, and how nice it was to learn more about them.

After they'd been talking for hours, Sirius called the pair downstairs to help him set the table for supper, which he'd made bigger to accommodate everyone. He'd made all of Harry's favorite dishes, and Mrs. Weasley was bringing a cake.

"Let's see...there's going to be...10 people here. You, me, Hermione, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Fred, George, Remus and Dumbledore." Sirius said, opening the cupboard for the two of them.

At 6:30, everyone started to arrive. First Remus came, and he gave Harry a hug and told him happy birthday, then helped Sirius with finishing the meal. Then the Weasleys arrived afterwards, Hermione giving Ron a dirty look and saying that she'd talk to him later. Everyone was in the kitchen, talking and laughing and getting seated, when Harry heard a soft knock at the front door. It seemed he was the only who heard it, so he got up and opened the door.

Dumbledore was standing there, and when he saw Harry, he smiled. "Harry. Look at you. Happy birthday."

"Hi, Professor Dumbledore. Come on in, we're just getting ready to eat." Harry stepped back so that he could come inside. "This way to the kitchen," Harry said, but he felt a hand on his shoulder so he stopped and turned back around.

"I was wondering if I could have a word, Harry." Dumbledore said quietly, and stepped into the living room with him. They both sat down on the sofa. "So, how has your summer been?"

"It's been pretty good." Harry said, unsure of whether or not Dumbledore had been filled in on what happened.

"How are you adjusting to living with Sirius?"

"I love it here. Sirius is great." Harry said simply, knowing that he didn't need to say much else. Dumbledore could tell how he was truly feeling, anyways.

"I'm glad. I've heard you had a bit of a, well, for lack of a better word, bump in the road last week. You've been reckless, and Sirius seemed to be concerned about you. Are you sure everything is alright?"

Harry stiffened a little. "Yes, everything is fine. I've gone over this a million times...me and Ron were idiots last week and it won't happen again. I've promised Sirius and I won't break that promise!"

Dumbledore smiled, patting Harry gently on the shoulder. "Alright. I understand. I just want to make sure you are okay. Let's go and have what I'm sure will be a very delicious meal and celebrate your birthday. You're growing into a fine man, Harry."

The meal did turn out to be delicious, and Harry managed to push his conversation with Dumbledore out of his mind and just joke and laugh with everyone. He felt a strong sense of belonging as he sat around the table, in between his two friends and across from Sirius, and he realized that these people sitting around him were like his family. They were, in fact, more family to him than the Dursleys had been for the many years he'd lived with them. Never before had he had people gather just to celebrate his birthday, and bring him presents, or bake him a cake the way Mrs. Weasley had. Sometimes, Harry thought, family had nothing to do with blood.

After dinner, when they were all eating thick slices of the delicious chocolate cake, everyone gave Harry their presents. He received a nice new set of Quidditch gloves from Remus, a watch from Ron and the Weasleys, several new books from Hermione, including one with nothing but facts about Quidditch and one with practical defensive jinxes, and, most surprisingly, a gift certificate for Honeydukes from Dumbledore and one for Zonko's Joke Shop from Hagrid.

Everyone was very full and sleepy by that time, and Harry looked around the table at all of them. "I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. This has been the best birthday I've ever had, and I can't thank you all enough for being here with me. I'm so lucky to have all of you in my life." He grinned at everyone and they all raised their glasses for a drink.

Shortly thereafter, the party broke up, everyone telling Harry happy birthday one last time and departing. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry and Hermione both a hug, and then turned to Ron and said, "Ronald, you had better be on your best behavior tonight or I swear..." before giving him a hug as well. After they'd closed the door behind the last visitor, Sirius went back into the kitchen and flicked his wand at all the dishes, which zoomed into the sink and stacked themselves neatly, ready to be washed.

"Sirius? Would you like us to help with the dishes?" Hermione asked politely.

"No, no, I'm not doing them tonight anyway...dishes will keep until morning," Sirius said with a wink. "You guys go upstairs and have fun, but don't stay up too late." Ron and Hermione smiled and thanked him for having them, and then went upstairs. Harry came over and hugged Sirius again.

"Thank you again for everything today. I had the best birthday."

"You're welcome, kid. Don't sweat it. Now go, have fun with your friends."

**A/N: Next chapter...Diagon Alley and the Quidditch World Cup, then possibly back to school!**


	11. Quidditch World Cup

**A/N: Thank you for your kind reviews! I'm so happy that so many people enjoy this story : )**

**As a side note, I'd like to add that I am not at all familiar with the geography of London, or England at all, for that matter. I think I mentioned in one of earlier chapters that you might have to...suspend your disbelief when you are reading about places Harry and co. might be going, if you live in England or London or have knowledge of those areas. Even "exploring" the country on the internet would not be helpful for me, lol, I am extremely bad with directions and maps. It's a major weakness. But, anyways, thanks for your patience regarding that. Haha.**

**P.S. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling...especially the scenes that happened at the World Cup that I describe. Just throwing the characters into the same situation and writing about it.**

After Harry's birthday, the summer continued to pass by without much happening. He kept a countdown of the days until the Quidditch World Cup, which he was looking forward to more than anything. The summer was quickly drawing to a close, and Harry knew that soon they'd have to go to Diagon Alley, although it seemed they were putting it off until after the Cup, and then he'd be going back to Hogwarts. As the days and weeks went by, he found himself feeling very strange about it all. Last year, the countdown on his wall would be the days left until his next term at Hogwarts, or until he would be going to stay with the Weasleys. But he was starting to feel sad about school starting, something that had never ever happened to him before, but was what he imagined happened to a lot of the students at Hogwarts. Most people didn't want summer holidays to end.

It wasn't that he didn't miss the castle or miss doing magic, or being with his friends all the time. But now he had a home. He had someone who looked after him and cared for him and a place to call his own. He was confused, flip flopping between excitement at the new term and sharp feelings of sadness about leaving Sirius behind when it all began. He wondered if his parents had ever felt sad about leaving home to go back to Hogwarts. If Aunt Petunia was as mean to his mother as she had been to Harry, than he doubted she minded going back to school.

However, he found his confusion shoved on the back burner as the Quidditch World Cup drew nearer. Before he knew it, it was the night before the match. Harry, always a last minute packer, had just finished throwing some clothes into a knapsack and he went downstairs to find Sirius double checking to make sure they had everything ready for the morning. Harry threw himself down on the couch and looked at the ceiling.

Sirius smiled at him, "Well, you're a free man tomorrow, Harry Potter...what are you going to do first?" He was officially ungrounded the next day, and he couldn't be any happier about it.

"Uhm, I donno...probably go watch some Quidditch or something," he said offhandedly, tossing an old Rememberall that was on the coffee table up in the air and catching it again.

"Oh, that's right...the World Cup's tomorrow...guess we should go, we've had the tickets for ages." Sirius said with a wink. "You better get going to bed soon, we've gotta be up bright and early to meet the Weasleys at the nearest portkey. It's 9 o'clock already, dawn will be here before you know it." Sirius said, checking his watch.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry said, wondering how he was going to sleep tonight.

It turned out that the way he was going to sleep was poorly. He laid awake in excitement for most of the night, and tossed and turned when he did fall asleep. It seemed as if he'd just closed his eyes and finally relaxed when Sirius was knocking on his bedroom door, shouting, "Wake up call!" For a few minutes, he refused to give up, and it took another knock on his door for him to slowly roll out of bed. He shuffled to his closet, pulled on some clothes, and grabbed his knapsack. Sirius had made breakfast downstairs, and they ate quickly and relatively quietly. Sirius tried to talk to Harry, but he was so tired he just didn't respond. An hour later, the pair had set off for the portkey.

Once they'd gotten to the field and were walking, Harry started to wake up and get in a better mood. The bright sunshine and stretching his legs and put him in a better mood, and they arrived around the portkey shortly before Ron, Hermione, Arthur, Fred, George and Ginny.

"Are you excited?" Sirius asked, seeing that it was finally okay to talk again because Harry had a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah, sorry I was a jerk this morning. I didn't really sleep last night, I was too excited." Harry said, feeling a bit like a little kid, but Sirius just shrugged his shoulders. Another couple of minutes, and they saw the Weasley's and Hermione walking up over the hill.

"Morning, all!" Arthur Weasley called with a wave. Ron looked the way Harry did, so he settled for giving him a smile, which Ron reluctantly returned with a yawn.

"Morning, Harry." Ron said quietly, stifling another yawn. "It's too bloody early, honestly, if we could Apparate things would be much easier, we'd still be sleeping." he said bitterly.

"Oh, shut up, Ron, stop complaining, at least we're going to the World Cup! This is amazing!" Hermione said happily, giving Harry a quick hug.

"Alright everyone, time to get going. Gather around quickly, touch the boot." Sirius said, indicating the portkey which had started to glow. Harry had never traveled by portkey before, but Sirius had explained to him what it was a few days ago, so he knew what to do. Less than a minute later, they all landed on the ground, Sirius and Arthur much more gracefully than the younger ones. They all stood up, brushed themselves off, and Harry's eyes widened at the sights before him. There were hundreds and hundreds of tents everywhere, and magic being performed everywhere. It was amazing. Before he knew it, he, Sirius, Hermione and the Weasleys had found the places where their were tents were supposed to be set up.

An hour later, Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting around the table in Harry and Sirius's tent, which was much calmer than the Weasley's. Fred and George were generally very loud people, and even though Arthur had tried to get the twins to calm down, they were walking around the tent placing bets loudly and just being pretty annoying. Sirius was busy making up some sandwiches for lunch.

The rest of the day went by quickly, as the trio walked around the campground, talking to people from school that they knew and taking in all the sights. Before they knew it, it was time to head to their seats for the game to start. As they walked, Sirius laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and said quietly to him, "Stay close to me, I don't want you to get lost."

"I'm _fine_, Sirius," Harry said, mentally rolling his eyes but not wanting to do it physically and hurt his feelings. Sometimes he wondered if Sirius knew he was being slightly overprotective, or if he didn't notice. Regardless, he knew he might as well stick close to him and make him feel good.

They finally got to their seats and sat down. They were up rather high in the Top Box, but they were excellent seats and they had a fantastic view of everything that was going on. As soon as the match began, Harry was completely enthralled. Watching a game of Quidditch was one thing, but this was different-this was amazing. He wanted to be those people out there, and he wondered what it was like, under all those hot lights while practically the entire Wizarding world watched you, and either rooted for you to win or prayed for you to fail. He was used to being watched by many people while he was Seeker, but never anywhere near this amount.

The match flew by, faster than he had expected it to. Surprisingly, what Fred and George had predicted to happen did-Viktor Krum of Bulgaria caught the Snitch, but Ireland still won, 170-160. It was fantastic, and everyone continued to celebrate well into the night, rehashing the excitement over the game. After a while, however, it was Arthur who yawned loudly and said, "Alright, you lot, I think it's about time we all start getting some sleep."

Everyone protested, including Harry, but Sirius said, "Arthur's right, it's been a long day but we'll be leaving in the morning and you need to get a little bit of rest." Grudgingly, Harry went with his godfather, saying good night to everyone as they went into their tent. It turned out that Sirius had been right-he was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was in the middle of a dream where he was chasing the Snitch against Krum...his hand was outstretched, he was going to get it, he would be the winner of the Cup...when suddenly the screams from the audience changed from excitement to fear, and he was shaken awake by Sirius.

"Harry! Wake up, we have to go! There's a riot going on!"

He stumbled out of his bed and stuck his head outside the tent. He saw a bunch of masked people walking around, and they were levitating unconscious people in the air. Everyone was running around screaming, and there were small fires burning all over. Harry shrank back into the tent away from it, wanting to un-see everything. Suddenly, all of the Weasley's and Hermione were inside of their tent. Ginny was crying, and everyone else looked between scared and upset.

"Sirius. We have to try and stop this. The Death Eaters have all of the Muggles and they're torturing them. We have to go and help them." Sirius reluctantly nodded. "Right," Arthur turned to all of the kids, giving Ginny a tight hug as he did so, "I want all of you to go and hide yourselves. Fred, George, stick close to Ginny. Keep her safe. All of you, keep safe. We'll come and find you as soon as we can. Let's go," Arthur said to Sirius.

But Sirius was looking at Harry with an odd expression on his face. He didn't want to leave him, he didn't want to send him off into the night without him, into a battle field with a group of underage wizards like himself, even if they all were very good friends. He wanted to get out of here now. He knew it was his duty to do what he could to help the situation, but this was hard. He hugged Harry tightly. "Please stick together and please be safe. Please. I'll come get you as soon as I can."

"I will," Harry muttered, hugging Sirius back. Arthur gave all of his kids quick hugs and then everyone was off.

In the midst of all the chaos and confusion, Harry, Ron and Hermione turned around after running for a few minutes to see that they'd lost Fred, George and Ginny. "Great!" Ron exclaimed, "where've they gone off to? We're doomed."

"Look! Let's go hide in there," Hermione said pointing towards the woods straight ahead. They moved quickly and pushed themselves deep into the woods. Harry impulsively felt for his wand and realized that it wasn't in his pocket.

"My wand's gone!" He yelled, and Hermione shushed him. "Where did it go? I had it when we left the tent!"

"It's okay, Harry, we'll find it," she said in a slightly unconvincing voice but Harry was starting to panic. He suddenly felt very unsafe without his wand, and he wanted it back. Even though they weren't allowed to do magic outside of school, he needed it in case of an emergency. However, he kept moving deeper into the woods with his friends, his promise to Sirius that he would keep himself safe ringing in his ears. They eventually saw a clearing, very deep inside, where they all mutually agreed they should go to. However, shortly before they reached it, they heard a man's voice yell out an incantation, something they were unable to completely make out, and a dark green skull erupted into the sky, encircled by a giant snake that went through its mouth.

Harry had no idea what it meant, but they all gasped, especially when they heard the loud crack around them of people Apparating into the forest, and they saw stunning spells being shot in each direction. "Get down!" he yelled, shoving his friends down as a spell shot by their heads.

"Who's there?" They heard an unfamiliar voice call out, one of the men who had Apparated into the clearing after the mark had been shot into the sky. The trio remained silent, unsure of whether or not they should give themselves away, when they heard a familiar voice that made them relax immediately.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" It was Sirius, he was running towards them and he helped them all to their feet. "Are you three alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Black? Sirius Black?" The same mysterious voice said as he finally walked over to them. He was holding two wands, and Harry's eyes lit on the one.

"My wand!" He yelled, going over and taking it from the man's hand.

"Potter, did you conjure the Dark Mark? Did you?" The man asked, pointing his wand at Harry suddenly. "Or was it one of you?" He asked, glaring at Ron and Hermione, who shrank back behind Sirius.

"Get your wand away from my godson, Crouch!" Sirius yelled, sticking his own wand in the man's face and standing in front of Harry. "You honestly think that Harry Potter would conjure the Dark Mark? Or one of these two 14 year old wizards? This is advanced Dark magic, Barty Crouch, and you know it. Leave them alone."

Barty Crouch looked at the three frightened young wizards and Sirius's angry face, and lowered his wand, appearing to see reason. He knew that they hadn't done this, but then, who could it have been? The next moment, Arthur Weasley appeared behind them, Fred, George and Ginny following his wake.

"What's going on? Barty? Did you catch the one who conjured that?" Arthur asked, gesturing towards the sky.

"No, he didn't, but he's been very quick to blame our kids," Sirius said, continuing to glare at Crouch.

"You can't possibly believe that these three could be capable of...of that!" Arthur said in indignation, putting his arm around Ron.

"No, but it is very suspicious that these three are at the scene of the crime, and Harry Potter's wand is the one that made the Dark Mark." Crouch said darkly.

Harry had no idea what was going on anymore. Ever since Sirius had showed up and he'd gotten his wand back, he'd felt much safer and had been able to relax a little bit. Not much, but a bit, and he was suddenly very, very tired. He wanted to be back in their tent, or, better yet, back at Grimmauld Place in his own warm bed. He leaned against Sirius, who put his arm around Harry tightly.

"Come on, we're done with this. Let's go back to the tents, everyone," Sirius said firmly, and they all started to head back, Harry sticking closely to his side for once.

The campground, which had been so perfect and meticulously planned out earlier in the day, was in ruins. Many tents were still smoldering, and there were a lot of people still hurrying around, although all traces of Death Eaters were gone. Everything was a mess, a disaster, and Harry's heart broke as they walked back. Once they all had arrived back at their tents, which were mercifully unharmed, Sirius said to Arthur, "Think we should try and get a little bit of sleep before catching the first portkey out of here in the morning?"

"Absolutely. I'm sure Molly's out of her mind with worry, we should get home quickly." Arthur said seriously. The Weasley's all disappeared into their tent, Hermione following them. She had stayed in Harry's tent earlier, but on the way back Ginny had asked her to bunk in with her. She was still obviously very frightened about the whole ordeal.

Sirius and Harry went back into their own tent. "I know it'll be hard, but try and get a little bit of sleep. We'll be out of here first thing in the morning." Harry suddenly threw his arms around Sirius, who squeezed him back.

"I was scared," Harry said in a low voice, more than slightly embarrassed.

"I know. I know," Sirius said quietly. "I didn't want to leave you. I shouldn't have."

"It's okay," Harry muttered.

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have, we had no idea what we were dealing with, what we were sending you all out to hide from. If something had happened to you, Harry, I never would have forgiven myself."

"I didn't know if I'd see you again, and then my wand was gone and I had no idea where it was or where we were and then the mark in the sky, and that Crouch guy..." Harry was speaking rapidly, his words tumbling over each other as he relived the fear he'd had as he and his friends had hid. "I'm being stupid, I'm 14 years old, I shouldn't be acting like a baby."

Sirius looked at him and smile a little. "You're 14, not 40. You had every right to be scared. Come on, it's okay. Let's get a little bit of sleep and we'll be gone in the morning. We'll put this behind us."

**A/N: By the way, just a heads up, school is starting soon...so I won't be able to update as much :[ But I will when I can!**


	12. Back to Hogwarts

**A/N: Thanks againnnn for all the love I have been getting : ) **

The next morning, the Weasleys, Harry, Sirius and Hermione were up bright and early packing up all of their belongings and the tents, ready to get the first Portkey out of there and get back home. Everyone was yawning and looking generally miserable, seeing as they had only gotten about 3 hours of not-so-good sleep. An hour later, after waiting in a massive crowd of people for a Portkey to be issued, they were all back on the field.

"I don't much feel like walking, do you want to Apparate?" Sirius asked Harry, who nodded. He was still burnt out from the night before, and although at this point he preferred walking to Apparating, he was too tired for the former. He pictured his bed, tucked upstairs safely at home, and that was all he wanted at the moment.

He and Sirius turned towards the Weasleys, and Arthur said, "I believe Molly said something about a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow, to get this lot ready to go back to school. Shall I tell her we'll still be going?"

Sirius nodded, "How about 10am? Sound good?"

"Perfect. Bye, you guys. See you tomorrow." Arthur said, rounding everyone up to walk back home, including Hermione, who was staying with Ron until term started.

"Bye, guys," Harry said with a half wave.

"See you soon, Harry," Hermione said, giving him a quick hug, and Ron did the same. Then everyone set off.

"Ready to go?" Sirius asked, and Harry nodded, taking Sirius's arm. He closed his eyes as he felt the uncomfortable feeling of Apparating, and when he opened his eyes, they were standing outside of 12 Grimmauld Place. They went inside and Sirius laid down all of their things right in the foyer "What do you say to a couple more hours of sleep?"

"Sounds amazing," Harry said, kicking off his tennis shoes and turning to go up the stairs, Sirius right behind him. Harry gave him a small smile as they turned in opposite directions at the landing, but then he felt a hand on his shoulder, so he turned around.

"I'm sorry that the World Cup sucked. I wanted us to have a great time together and it all kind of went to hell, but at least the match itself was pretty good." Sirius said.

"Why are you apologizing? It's not like you were one of those Death Eaters, it's not your fault! And it didn't suck, anyways. The match was absolutely amazing, and I had a lot of fun before everything last night. Thank you for taking me." Harry said, staring at his feet and scuffing them against the floor. Sirius gave him a smile and then they both went their separate ways. Harry climbed into bed and fell into sleep almost immediately after his head hit the pillow.

The next morning (after many hours of sleep, a few of which were interrupted with a meal or two and a game of chess, followed by even more sleep), Harry and Sirius were ready to go to Diagon Alley.

"We're going by Floo powder," Sirius said, and Harry shivered a little, remembering the incident a couple of years ago when he'd ended up in Knockturn Alley because of Floo powder. So far it seemed that the only modes of transportation he liked were flying and riding on the train, but he knew that he would have to become more comfortable with everything else as he got older. He followed Sirius into the sitting room, and took a handful of green powder from the sack sitting on the mantle.

"You remember how to do it?" Sirius asked curiously, watching as Harry cautiously climbed into the fire. He nodded.

"Diagon Alley!" He said as clear as he possibly could, and he went whizzing off. A moment later he came speeding out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, banging his head on the underside of a table. He scooted out of the way quickly, in case Sirius was coming out right behind him. He sat on a chair at the table, rubbing his head, and waited. A few minutes later, Sirius did the same, but managed to stop himself from bumping his head. He stood up and brushed off his clothes, looking around the crowded pub, who was used to this happening and not paying much attention. He spotted Harry and went over to him.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, noticing that Harry had his hand clamped tightly over his forehead. Sirius moved Harry's hand away and winced, as his forehead was already slightly swollen and there was a big bump there.

"I'm fine. I hit my head on the table when I came out of the fireplace." he said.

"Are you sure? It looks pretty painful. Here, hold some ice on it," Sirius said, pointing his wand at his hand, bringing an ice pack out of thin air. He wrapped it in a towel so it wasn't as cold and handed it to Harry, then the pair left the Leaky Cauldron, went out back, and tapped on the brick wall to get the entrance to Diagon Alley. They immediately spotted the Weasleys, or at least a few of them. Fred and George were nowhere to be seen, but Ron and Hermione were staring into the windows of one of the shops while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley argued with Ginny about why she couldn't have her own owl.

"We have to go to Gringotts, so I can get money for my stuff." Harry said, looking up at Sirius, who in turn gave him a puzzled look.

"Well we can go so you can get some spending money out, if you'd like, but I'll be paying for your books and supplies and stuff. You probably need new robes, and it looks like you need dress robes, too." Sirius said, consulting Harry's Hogwarts letter.

"No, Sirius, come on, you can't pay for my new things, it'll cost a fortune." Harry said incredulously. "I don't mind, really."

Sirius rolled his eyes and then looked at Harry, gripping his shoulders and saying, "Harry. We are not roommates, that's not how this works. You're...well, you're like my son now. I take care of your school stuff. Okay? Now, we can go to Gringotts after we get your things so you can get some spending money out, since you'll get to go into Hogsmeade this year. Understood?"

Harry nodded, not sure of what to say. Had he been thinking of his living arrangements with Sirius as if they were roommates?

"Good morning!" Mrs. Weasley said, and before anything else she gave Harry a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alright, Harry dear, I was so worried about all of you at the World Cup! Thank goodness everything turned out...relatively fine." Harry gave her a smile and nodded, unsure of what to say.

"How about we get your books at Flourish and Blotts and then, well, we'll decide from there?" Sirius asked, and everyone agreed. The list of textbooks was rather lengthy and cost a small fortune, Harry noticed. They were stuck waiting in a long line, as it seemed most everyone else had waited until after the World Cup to do their back to school shopping as well. "Why don't you three go get your quills and ink and things, and I'll meet you in the Apothecary in a little while." Sirius gave Harry some galleons for his supplies and then sent them on their way.

"What was Sirius talking to you about earlier?" Hermione asked as they shoved themselves out of Flourish and Blotts and out into Diagon Alley, heading towards Scribbulus Writing Instruments, the shop where quills, ink and parchment were sold.

"I told him that we had to go to Gringotts so I could get money for my supplies and he told me that he was going to pay for them...then he got kind of weird and told me that we weren't roommates and it's his job to take care of me."

Ron raised his eyebrows and Hermione snuck a glance at Harry. "Have you been feeling that it's kind of like...living with a roommate?"

Harry shrugged, staring down at the cobbled street. "I don't know. I don't think I have been. If anything it's been like...living with a big brother, or an uncle. Because I know that he's the one who makes the rules, hence my month long hiatus in the middle of the summer, and I respect him and everything. It's just still so new for both of us." They reached the writing shop and he paused with his hand on the door before turning back around to face Ron and Hermione. "He told me I was like his son," he said quietly. "The truth is, I don't exactly know how to be someone's son. I'm trying really hard and everything but-"

"Harry. You and Sirius have an admittedly strange relationship. But just remember, he doesn't exactly have much experience being a father, so you're learning together." Hermione said.

"Haven't you had a good summer with him?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, it's been great. Aside from the whole thing you and me did."

Ron smiled at him. "Then what in the world are you worrying for, mate?"

Harry realized that Ron was right. What was the point in worrying now when they had clearly made it this far? It was pretty clear to him that Sirius didn't care much about whether Harry was living up to some pre-set standard of what a 'good son' should be; Sirius probably didn't have any of those ideas in his head, anyways, just as Harry didn't have any ideas of what a 'good' father should be. So far, from what he could tell, Sirius was doing a good job, if the fact that Harry's stomach twisted into knots at the thought of leaving him behind to go back to Hogwarts in a week was any indication.

He pushed any and all of the worries he had out of his mind and he managed to have a good time with everyone. By the end of the day, everyone was considerably poorer after stocking up on spellbooks, new quills, ink, and parchment, new potions ingredients, and for Harry, new robes and dress robes. Ron had had to get his robes from a second-hand shop and he was still sulking about this fact when the group had lunch together at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Cheer up, they're not that bad," Harry told him as he bit into a sandwich and Ron pushed his food around his plate.

"I'm going to look like a girl." He said bitterly. "_Yours_ are normal, you're going to look fine."

"Oh, Ron, stop whining, I'm sure there's something we can do to make them look a bit better. Everything's going to be fine." Hermione said, but Ron just rolled his eyes.

As much as Harry tried to stretch out his time and make it last, the next week flew by as quickly as possible in a flurry of laundry, flying in the backyard, games of chess and Gobstones, and trying to clean his room, which was abnormally messy again. Before he knew it, it was the night before term started and he still wasn't done packing. He was packing all of his robes when he heard a knock on his bedroom door before Sirius came in.

"You told me you finished packing two days ago!" Sirius said, looking around at all of the things Harry would be taking with him, which were currently spread out all over his bed and some piled high on his desk.

"We just finished with the laundry tonight, how could that have been the truth? I just wanted you to stop bugging me about it," Harry said with a laugh.

"You're such a brat," Sirius said, but he was smiling. He picked up some of Harry's books and handed them to him, and they got stowed away in his trunk. "I can't believe how fast this summer flew by."

"I know. It never feels like this, the summer usually drags on and on." Harry said, remembering the countless days and weeks he'd whiled away at the Dursleys, dreaming of the train back to Hogwarts.

"The house is going to be pretty quiet without you," Sirius said, and Harry said nothing, not wanting to ruin the moment of knowing, knowing that someone was going to miss him while he was at school. After a few minutes, Sirius turned to leave, "I'll leave you to your packing, then, dinner'll be ready in about 20."

The next morning dawned bright and early, and before he knew it it was 10:30am and he and Sirius were entering King's Cross, his trunk and Hedwig's cage in tow. It was a familiar scene-Muggles bustling around, many giving him funny looks because of the large snowy owl in his hand, the platform between 9 and 10 looming in the distance- but he had never stood here with Sirius. They walked closer to the platform until they were in front of the barrier.

"Ready?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded, and the two of them leaned into the barrier casually, trying not to attract any more attention to themselves than necessary. They found themselves on Platform 9 ¾, surrounded by his classmates and their parents. He didn't recognize everyone, but he did see Seamus and Dean, who smiled and said hi to him. It took several minutes for them to navigate through the crowd of people to get Harry's trunk and owl loaded onto the train. By then, it was 10 minutes to 11am and the Weasleys and Hermione had arrived, all of them looking rather frazzled. It was always a challenge to get everyone out of the house the morning the train left, while making sure they had everything.

Ron and Hermione were fighting about something, going back and forth, until they saw Harry looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Ronald is just being totally ridiculous, he's still mad about his dress robes-"

"Well you don't have to wear them, now do you?" Ron said, annoyed.

"Oh, both of you, hush. Time to start getting along." He said, laughing. There was a pause, and then Mrs. Weasley said, "Five minutes until the train leaves everyone, come on." Then everyone started saying their goodbyes.

"Have a good term, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said, giving him a tight hug. "See you at Christmas."

"See you, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks." He smiled at her. Then he turned and shook Mr. Weasley's hand. Ron and Hermione were saying goodbye to Sirius, Hermione also saying goodbye to the Weasleys and thanking them, and then Ron turned to his parents. Hermione left to find them a compartment on the train, and Harry, finally, turned to say goodbye to Sirius.

"Well...have a good term, kid." Sirius said to him, and Harry smiled.

"Thanks," he said, then he threw his arms around Sirius. "Thank you for everything this summer."

"Hey. We're a family now." Sirius said, "Okay. Now study hard and do well, and don't get into too much trouble...certainly no more than your father and I and Remus would've gotten into. And please, please be safe." Sirius said. Harry looked up at him.

"I will. See you at Christmas?" Harry said tentatively.

"Whether you want to or not!" Sirius said with a laugh. "Love you, son," he said, ruffling Harry's hair and giving him one last hug. "Love you, too," Harry said before he ran off to the train to find Ron and Hermione.

Once he was seated in their compartment, he didn't say anything for a little while. His stomach hurt, and he felt his eyes burning with tears that he didn't want to cry. He couldn't believe he was getting so emotional, but he wondered if this was the way a lot of the other students felt when they went back to Hogwarts. If they were excited about being on their own and learning magic, but achingly sad about what they were leaving behind-the people who loved them. Or, in Harry's case, the person. He was torn between being at the first place he'd been able to call home, and the place he called home now. He knew that in a few days he would be okay, he'd write Sirius and everything would be fine, but at the moment, he felt like his heart was being tugged in two different directions, and it hurt. A lot.


	13. Goblet of Fire

The first weeks at Hogwarts without Sirius were harder for Harry than he cared to admit. The whole school was buzzing and excited about the Triwizard Tournament that Dumbledore had announced during the start-of-term feast, but he hadn't joined in on it. He was quiet and sullen, eating little and studying even less. For once being back at Hogwarts hadn't made him happy, and he wished it did.

Hermione and Ron were worried about him. One morning at breakfast, two weeks after term started, Harry was pushing his eggs around on his plate and wondering what he'd be doing right now if he was at Grimmauld Place when Hermione's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Harry, are you alright?" she asked, not for the first time lately.

"I'm fine," he said, taking a bite of his breakfast and a drink of pumpkin juice. The eggs were gross, he'd let them get cold, and they stuck in his throat. The pumpkin juice was too much, too, and he wished he knew why his eating habits were so weird.

"I know you miss Sirius, but you've seemed really depressed lately. Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked again.

"Yeah, come on mate, tell us what's wrong." Ron said, looking at him with a strange expression on his face, a mixture of nerves and concern for his best friend.

Harry sighed. "How come you guys don't miss your parents?"

"We do," Hermione said with a shocked look on her face, "I miss my mum and dad very much."

"Yeah, I miss mine as well, but Christmas will be here before you know it. And we're probably used to it a little more than you are." Ron said.

"Yeah, I suppose." Harry said. "I really do miss Sirius."

"Oh, Harry, I'm sure he misses you too. But Ron's right, Christmas will be here before you know it, and you'll get to see him." Hermione said.

"Guess so. Come on, we better get going to Charms," Harry said, standing up from the table and grabbing his backpack.

After that, Harry thought he would start feeling better. He thought knowing that his friends missed their parents, too would help, but it turned out the only thing that did help was time. Time to get used to being away, time to understand that he would be okay, and time to understand that Sirius was just a letter away. Even though he didn't like being pretty much the only fourth year who was writing home once a week or more, he needed it. Sirius was good about it, supportive of the fact that Harry needed to talk to him more than other kids, and assured him that he missed him, too.

Two weeks later, he was finally settling back into his old habits and routines at Hogwarts. All the talk in the hallways about the Triwizard Tournament had finally reached him and he was getting just as excited as everyone else was to see the whole thing play out. He wasn't as homesick and he was back to arguing with Hermione over homework, joking with Ron and not getting along with Professor Snape, who seemed to hate Harry even more now that he knew the boy had gotten a happy ending, and with the man he detested. A few days after he started feeling better, in the beginning of October, he got a letter from Sirius.

A mass of barn owls swooped in, carrying the mail, and one dropped a letter in the middle of Harry's bowl of oatmeal. He threw the owl a look of annoyance as he hastily wiped off the letter.

"Is it from Sirus?" Hermione asked, sliding her thumb under the envelope of the letter she'd gotten from her own parents.

"Yeah, it must be. I haven't written to him in at least a week, I wonder if he was worried or something." Harry said.

Hermione paled a little bit. "Oh, no," she said quietly, and she grabbed Harry's hand as he started to open it. "Please don't be mad."

Harry looked at her with an incredulous look on his face. "Mad about what? What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, well...a few days ago, when you still seemed so...distracted, and upset about being back here...I was worried about you! We both were," she said, gesturing to Ron, who was watching the scene unfold with a look of nervousness on his face.

"Hey, don't drag me into this. I told you to mind your own business." Ron said sternly, spearing a sausage on the end of his fork and biting into it. Hermione glared at him and then looked back at Harry, whose face had grown increasingly concerned.

"What is going on? What did you do?" He asked, gripping the letter tightly in his hands.

"I wrote to Sirius. I told him you weren't eating and Ron said you were having trouble sleeping, I told him you weren't doing your course work and you were really distracted...I'm sorry! I didn't know you were going to be back to normal soon when I wrote it!" She said urgently.

"Hermione!" He said angrily, and before she could say another word, he ripped the letter from the envelope and started to read.

_Harry,_

_I'm really very worried about you. I got a letter from Hermione that said you aren't doing very well back at school. I know that there's been a lot of change in your life the past 5 months. First you moved in with me, which took a lot of getting used to, on both of our parts. And then, just as we were finally used to living together and happy (I think you were happy, at least), you had to move back to Hogwarts. I know how hard it's been on you, and I promise, it's been really hard for me too. I miss you like crazy, kid._

_But I can't help but wonder if there's something else going on. Is there something else that's upsetting you? Are you depressed? If you are, I'm ready to do anything I have to to get you the help you need. If it means you have to come home, you can come home. Obviously I want you to stay and get your education, but if it's not possible you know home and I am here for you if you need. _

_I hope that you can see why I had to send you this letter, both as your godfather and someone who cares about you and loves you very much. I hope you aren't angry or upset with me. Please let me know what's going on, I need to know if you're okay, or if you're going to be okay._

_Love,_

_Sirius_

Harry's face was burning bright red as he set the letter down on the table and looked down. He didn't say anything for several moments, unable to speak from a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and anger.

"Harry, are you okay? What does it say?" Hermione squeaked out.

Harry tossed the letter to her and glared at her as she read. When she was done, she set it down silently and looked up at him, biting her lip. "Well, this is good, isn't it?"

"_In what deranged world could this be considered good?_" Harry hissed at her.

"Well...I mean...you know he's here for you if you need him to be!" She said with a pleading look on her face, begging Harry not to be angry with her.

"Why couldn't you just leave it alone?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, I only did it because I was worried about you," she said in a very quiet voice, her brown eyes filling with tears.

"Because of you, Sirius is sitting at home thinking that I'm...that I'm crazy and I'm going to kill myself or something! He thinks I'm a nut job. Thanks a lot," Harry said coldly, standing up, grabbing his backpack, and walking quickly across the Great Hall. He heard Ron yell his name but he ignored him, and just as he was leaving he collided with Dumbledore.

"Oh, Harry. Good morning," he said pleasantly. "What's wrong?" he then asked, noticing the scowl on Harry's face.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," he said. "I'm going to be late for Charms," he said, making to leave, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I'm going to assume you got a letter from Sirius this morning and that's why you're upset. He wrote me, as well, expressing his concerns," Dumbledore said, in answer to the puzzled look on Harry's face.

"Hermione is the one who wrote him and said that I was losing my mind or something. I'm fine, I was just a little homesick but I'm better now, sir," Harry said to the headmaster.

"Well, you know that Ms. Granger wouldn't have written him if she wasn't genuinely concerned for you. She didn't do it to make you angry or mess anything up, even if it didn't have the desired outcome." Dumbledore said gently. "I hope you weren't too hard on her."

Harry turned and looked back at the table he'd left behind. Ron had his arm around Hermione, who looked very upset, and he looked up and met Harry's eye and scowled. Oops. "I think I might have been a little harsh."

"An apology might be due, then. Maybe." Dumbledore said in an offhand way.

"I know. I will." Harry had started feeling very guilty. It wasn't like him to blow up at Hermione; she was meddlesome and something of a know-it-all, but that was her. He rarely let it bother him, but he'd been embarrassed at the thought of Sirius worrying about him here at Hogwarts, worrying that he couldn't take care of himself. Regardless, he knew he shouldn't have yelled at Hermione like that and he would apologize. But first... "Sir, what did you say back to Sirius? If you don't mind telling me?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment before saying, "I have not answered him yet. I will probably tell him that you seem to be alright and I'll keep an eye on you to make sure. There isn't any reason why I shouldn't say that, is there, Harry?" He asked him.

"No. I'm okay. I promise." Harry said sincerely, looking straight at Dumbledore. He was okay now, that's why all of this seemed so ridiculous. "Okay, I admit, I may have been acting a bit like a first year the past month. But I am okay now, I'm feeling better and...yeah. I'm good." He said.

"I've noticed your grades have been rather poor, are you going to work to bring them up?" Dumbledore asked rather sternly, and Harry resisted the strong urge he had to roll his eyes.

"Yes. I am."

"Okay, then I shall write back to Sirius soon. Have a good day, Harry, and, ah, please don't forget to apologize to Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said, walking away and into the Great Hall. Harry looked back at him as he walked, and he turned and jogged back inside. He stopped in front of Ron and Hermione, the latter of who wiped her eyes hastily when he stopped in front of her.

"Listen, if what you're gonna say is just gonna make things worse than you should just-" Ron started, but Harry stopped him.

"Hermione, I know you only wrote to Sirius because you care about me, and I'm really sorry that I freaked out on you." He said. "It was stupid of me, I was just upset...I'm sorry."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. "It's okay. I should have just stayed out of it."

"No, it's not, not really. And it was just a misunderstanding. How were you supposed to know I'd snap out of it the second after you sent that owl? You weren't. So do you forgive me?"

"Of course," Hermione said with another sniffle. Harry squeezed her shoulder gently and Ron nodded at him, as if to say a silent good job.

"I have to go write to Sirius and tell him I'm fine," Harry said, but Hermione looked at her watch and groaned.

"We're going to be late for Charms!" She said, and with a groan the trio ran from the Great Hall, barely making it to class on time. Harry found that he didn't have time to write back to Sirius until that evening, after they'd eaten dinner and were back in the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Hermione started on their homework and Harry took out a piece of parchment and his quill.

_Sirius,_

_I'm sorry that you are worried about me, but you really don't have to be. For a while, I was really depressed and I did have a hard time getting used to being back here, which you obviously know. When Hermione thought I wasn't getting any better, she wrote to you and, well, here we are. I guess I was depressed for a while, but I swear, I'm getting loads better. _

_Please don't worry about me, I'm sorry that I messed up when I came back here. _

_Harry_

He sealed the envelope and wrote Sirius's name on the outside of it and looked over at his friends. "I'm going up to the Owlery to send this." He waved the letter. He grabbed his invisibility cloak, since it was almost time for lights out, and threw it over himself, disappearing out of the portrait hole.

His walk to the Owlery was long and silent, most everyone being in their dormitories or heading back there. He had to sneak quietly past Professor McGonagall, who was walking down one of the corridors, but soon he found himself alone again. Before he knew it he was up in the Owlery. He found Hedwig and she flew over to him; he attached the letter to her leg. "Take this to Sirius, okay? You don't have to get a response from him...I'm sure he'll have something to say in his own time." She nipped his finger, and flew out of the window gracefully.

It turned out that Sirius was just relieved to know that Harry was going to be okay; if he thought at all that the boy was lying to him, he didn't share those thoughts with him, and life went back to what could be considered normal. Everyone was thoroughly excited for Halloween, which was when the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were arriving. The month of October passed much quicker than September had. On Halloween their new guests arrived, and Dumbledore explained about the Tournament. Anyone who was over 17 could drop their names into the Goblet of Fire, and next Thursday evening, one entrant from each of the 3 schools would be chosen to compete in the highly dangerous Tournament. Ron was slightly disappointed that you had to be 17 to enter, and Fred and George, who were just a few months shy, were outraged at what they considered to be an unfair rule. Harry, on the other hand, was happy to sit on the sidelines for once and watch the others fight for 'eternal glory'.

That's why he was more than shocked when the next Thursday, after Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory were chosen as the individual champions for their school, the Goblet of Fire glowed for a fourth time. Dumbledore took the singed piece of paper and read out, in a quiet voice, "Harry Potter."

Before he knew it, he was being rushed into the chamber off of the Great Hall with the other champions and he was surrounded by a mix of people-Igor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch, and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape- all of whom were debating what had just happened and whether or not he would compete.

"Of course I didn't put my name in!" He said when they asked him if he had, but they paid little attention. The other two headmasters were furious, saying that if Hogwarts got two champions, so should Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Ultimately it was decided that Harry had to compete; the Goblet of Fire was a binding, magical contract. He was sent back to his dormitory, which he went to with dread, finding a tearful and worried Hermione and a furious, mostly jealous Ron who got into an argument with him.

"You could've told me how to get past Dumbledore's age line!" Ron shouted at him.

"I didn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire!" Harry yelled back at him. "I can't believe you don't believe me!"

"Lousy git," Ron muttered, and with that, the two friends were no longer speaking.

Harry was 100% miserable. He woke up the next morning and stumbled out of bed, getting dressed and preparing to drag himself down to breakfast and then to classes. He wasn't sure how the whole school would react to his being the second champion, but he certainly wasn't eager to find out. He pushed past everyone in the common room, and as soon as he jumped out of the portrait hole, he practically collided with Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Harry, I was just coming to find you," Dumbledore said pleasantly, seemingly not noticing the scowl on Harry's face. "We need to go to my office. This way."

"Why do we have to go to your office?" Harry asked as they started to walk.

"Sirius is here and he wants to see you so we can discuss some things." Dumbledore said, and Harry's heart instantly got lighter. Sirius would fix this, he would make it right. He had to.

Once they got to the stone gargoyle, Dumbledore said the password and they hopped on. The door to his office was opened, and Harry walked inside. "Sirius!" He said, and with no grace whatsoever, he flew into his open arms and hugged him tightly.

"Are you alright, Harry? Is everything okay?" Sirius asked, hugging him back.

"No, I'm not, I don't want to do this, I don't want to be in this stupid Tournament. I'm not old enough, Dumbledore even said you had to be 17!" Harry said. Sirius turned to Dumbledore, his arm still around Harry.

"He can't compete. You know how dangerous it is, Albus, and I won't allow it. He's my son, he's my responsibility and I won't allow it."

Dumbledore looked at the pair with kind eyes, and Harry knew that look. It meant that even though he knew you were right, there was nothing he would be able to do. Harry got a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Sirius, believe me, no one here wants him competing. I've spent all night searching for a loophole to keep Harry out of the competition, but the rules are absolute: if your name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, that makes a magical contract; you must compete. I'm sorry, but Harry is the fourth Champion."

"But who put his name in that Goblet? You didn't put your name in there did you?" Sirius turned on Harry, looking at him sternly.

"I'm not stupid, of course I didn't! I don't _want_ to compete, remember?" Harry said angrily.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Sirius muttered under his breath. "Then who did?"

"I do not know the answer to that question. We might not ever know." Dumbledore said.

"I don't want him competing." Sirius said yet again, one more last ditch effort, even though the look on his face said he knew it was over. Sirius knew Dumbledore, and if the man in front of him hadn't found a way around this, then there was no way he was going to be able to.

"I don't either," Dumbledore said again, "but he must."

Harry thought briefly about throwing a fit, screaming about how he wouldn't show up to the tasks and no one could drag him there. But he knew that it would do no good, and besides, he wasn't one who ran away from things. He faced them head on, and he knew that's what he would have to do with this, too. But that didn't stop him from being scared. He leaned against Sirius.

"Can I have a moment alone with him?" Sirius asked, and Dumbledore nodded, excusing himself from the room. Sirius lead them to the two chairs across from the desk and they sat down.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm afraid there's no way you can't compete." Sirius said gently.

"I know. I see it now." He said.

"If I thought it would do any good, I'd take you right now and bring you home and keep you there, but it won't. They're bound to have some way of making you show up even if you try not to, I don't know all the logistics but I'm sure of it." Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I know you're probably eager to prove yourself or something, but this is real, kid, this is dangerous and life-threatening-"

"I don't want to prove myself, I don't want to do this at all. Ron thinks the same thing, that I tricked the Age Line and didn't tell him. He won't speak to me. I don't want this. I don't want any of this. I just want a quiet, normal life, but that'll never happen." Harry said bitterly.

"No, it probably won't," Sirius said with a wry grin. "I need you to listen, though. The things you're going to be up against are going to be both challenging and terrifying, and I will help you as much as possible, but you're going to need to work hard at it. And you're going to need support, lots of it, and not just from me, so try your hardest to make up with Ron."

"But he's being a prat-"

"Yes, I know, but you're still going to need him. The real Ron, the one who is your best friend and cares about you. So please try. I'm sorry I can't take you out of this, but I'm going to try my hardest to make this as easy as possible." Sirius said.

"I know. Thanks for coming," he said quietly.

"How could I not?" Sirius said, and hugged him again, then ruffled his hair. "Let's go get breakfast, I'm starved."

**A/N: I apologize if some of the Triwizard Tournament stuff seems rushed or even a bit inaccurate. I am too exhausted to lug out my copy of Goblet of Fire and reread the passages about the champions being chosen, etc. I underestimated how much going back to school was going to kick my butt! I tried to make it long for you guys since I know it'll be a little bit (probably about a week) before the next chap will be up. Enjoy :)**


	14. The First Task

**A/N: Still don't own Harry Potter. It all still belongs to the lovely JK Rowling and her team of publishers. **

**I must apologize for it being so long between updates. I know you guys were used to once every few days, but between school, homework, and work I am pretty busy and tired. Thanks for bearing with me ;]**

**Also, it was brought to my attention that pretty much everyone who is reading this has probably read the HP books (often more than once), so we're all pretty familiar with the details of what happens in them...so there's not really a need for me to go greatly into detail. Hopefully you guys can fill in anything that seems a bit vague. Hope that's okay! Derp lol. **

The weeks after he had been chosen by the Goblet of Fire as the fourth champion went by fairly quickly, and Harry suspected it was because he was dreading the approaching first task. Even though time went by fast, he was fairly miserable the entire time. He had tried to do what Sirius had advised, and get Ron back on his side, but it hadn't worked. It turned out that Ron was just as hard-headed about being angry with Harry as he was about everything else. He had tried multiple times, cornering him in the common room while he was working on homework, sitting next to him in the Great Hall at lunchtime, and eventually going as far as to catch him off guard and shove him into a bathroom.

"I didn't put my name in that Goblet! Please, can't you get over it so things can get back to normal? I...well, I kind of need you right now."

Ron had just narrowed his eyes at Harry and said, "Bugger off." then shoved his way past him and out of the bathroom.

Harry, furious at his seemingly former best friend's attitude, had gone back to the common room, grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink, and written a letter to Sirius. He was so angry and writing so quickly that he blotted the parchment, but he didn't care.

_Ron's being a total arse and no matter what I do or say, he refuses to believe me. He won't talk to me and he's made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to._

_I'm sick of his stupid attitude and I'm sick of explaining the truth to him (and everybody else) over and over again. I didn't put my name in that Goblet. I didn't want this. I get that the whole school doesn't believe me and I kind of expected that...but Ron's supposed to be my best friend. The fact that he doesn't believe me is killing me. _

_I have no idea what the first task is going to be, and so I don't know how to prepare for it. I don't want to be scared and I'm ashamed to admit it, but I am. I want to come home...there's got to be something we can do. Please let me come home. _

_Harry_

Without thinking too hard about it, he sealed the letter, wrote Sirius' name on the outside of the envelope, and went up to the Owlery to send it. On the way out of the portrait hole, he bumped straight into Ron, sending him stumbling backward a bit. Ron glowered at him and shoved past, hitting him hard in the shoulder. Harry, refueled by this new annoyance, walked as fast as he could. Once he was there, he called for Hedwig, and she flew down and landed on his arm. He attached the letter to her.

"Bring this to Sirius, please." He said quietly to her and then he watched her fly out into the night.

_- - - -break - - - -_

The next morning, Harry was eating breakfast in the Great Hall when the mail came swooping in. Hedwig came over and dropped a letter from Sirius on his plate. Harry opened it quickly.

_Harry,_

_Take a deep breath, and try to calm down. I know how stressful everything is right now, but you're going to be okay. We're going to get through this together._

_As for Ron, I'm sorry he's being such a prat. He'll come around eventually, and hopefully sooner rather than later, but don't beat yourself up about it. I know that I told you it would help to try and make up with Ron, but if it's not going to work, it's not going to work. Don't let it drag you down._

_I'm coming up to see you on Saturday. I've talked to Dumbledore and he doesn't mind. Maybe we can hang out in Hogsmeade, I'd love to show you around your dad and I's old places or something, and we can talk more about everything...or nothing, whatever you prefer. It's totally up to you. _

_See you soon, kid._

_Sirius_

Harry folded up the letter and sighed. He'd calmed down a lot since he'd sent that letter to Sirius, but he was still mad at Ron, still annoyed at the fact that no one but Hermione believed that he hadn't put his name in that Goblet, and he still wanted to go home. But at least now he had something to look forward to...a weekend with Sirius was what he needed.

_- - - break- - -_

That Friday, the day before Sirius was coming to see him, Harry got a note from Hagrid telling him to meet him at his house at nightfall, and to bring his invisibility cloak. The note proved to be a great distraction from the annoying taunts and harassment that he was getting in the hallway and his classes. He was too busy wondering what Hagrid wanted to focus on the Hufflepuffs who were angry that Cedric had been "robbed" of his chance at glory, the Ravenclaws who felt similarly, and the Slytherins who just hated Harry on principal and were jumping at the chance to make his life miserable...especially Draco Malfoy.

Shortly before nightfall, he slipped out of the castle and down to Hagrid's house. Hagrid lead him into the forest, halfway through telling him to put his cloak on. Before he knew it, he'd been brought to a clearing, and he was seeing something that he had never thought he would see.

"Dragons," he muttered under his breath. He would have to fight a dragon for the first task, or at least, that's what it looked like. There were four of them, all of them huge, fire-breathing, and utterly terrifying. He wanted to leave, but his feet wouldn't move; he was frozen, staring at them.

"Hagrid!" He hissed, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear but not Madame Maxine, whom he had brought along to show as well. "Dragons? I have to fight a dragon for the first task?" A feeling of dread rose in him when Hagrid confirmed what he had been thinking.

He went to bed that night feeling even more uneasy. On the one hand, it was good to know what he would be up against, but on the other hand, he was up against something truly terrifying and seemingly impossible. How was he, a short, skinny, 14 year old boy, who was definitely not a fully trained wizard, supposed to defend himself against a dragon? He tossed and turned all night and got very little sleep. He finally fell into an uneasy sleep in the early hours of the morning, and slept late. The dormitory was empty by the time he woke up, and he dressed quickly and started downstairs.

He walked into the entrance hall, wondering if he could still grab breakfast or if he'd have to wait until lunch, when he saw Dumbledore talking with Sirius near the front doors. They both looked like they were very concentrated on the conversation, until Sirius noticed Harry standing in the opposite corner of the grand, sweeping, entrance hall. He smiled and raised his hand in a wave at him.

Sirius gave him a quick hug and then said, "Shall we go get some lunch?"

"Yeah, I'm starved," Harry said, just as his stomach let out a loud growl. "I just woke up," he said sheepishly.

"Just woke up! But it's nearly noon," Sirius said, nodding at Dumbledore as the two left the castle and headed towards Hogsmeade.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep much last night because of...well...something Hagrid showed me." He said under his breath as they passed a group of Hufflepuffs who glowered at him.

"What did he show you?" Sirius asked him, but before Harry could answer, he was interrupted by the high, cold voice of the last person he ever wanted to see.

"Well, isn't this just _precious_. Potter's finally found someone to live with who can stand to be around him." Draco Malfoy snarled at him. He was leaning against a tree, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, who were laughing.

"Shove it, Malfoy," Harry muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes for a moment, praying that when he opened them a big black hole would have swallowed Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle whole and erased Sirius' memory. Or just swallowed him. He'd take either one. His wish didn't come true, unfortunately.

"Malfoy? As in Lucius Malfoy...his son, I would presume. It's lovely to finally meet you. I'm sure most say you look like your father...but do I ever see your mother in you...and that sneer on your face is quite reminiscent of your dear Aunt Bellatrix." Sirius said with more than a trace of contempt in his voice. Malfoy quickly wiped the sneer off of his face, which wasn't easy because that was his trademark. At least it was when he looked at Harry.

"Don't speak to me, you filthy blood-traitor. If it were up to my family..." Malfoy muttered under his breath. Then he looked over at Harry, pure loathing evident on both his face and in his voice, "Better not get used to having a 'father', Potter. This isn't a fairy tale...and I can _assure_ you, he won't be around forever." Malfoy smiled evilly and started to walk away, along with Crabbe and Goyle. Harry was used to Malfoy taunting him about anything and everything he could get his hands on, metaphorically speaking, and it rarely bothered him anymore, but this...this was different. This hurt, as much as it pained him to admit, and he was torn between wanting to punch Malfoy and wanting to run as far away from those words as he could get.

Sirius snuck a look at Harry, saw the look on his face, and went after Malfoy.

"Hey!" Sirius said, and Malfoy turned around; Harry was pleased to see a brief look of fear flash across his face. "Don't you ever say anything like that to him again...in fact, don't bother speaking to him at all, unless you think you've got something nice to say. Leave him alone or I'll make you wish you'd been Muggle-born."

Malfoy's face paled and he backed away from Sirius. "My father-"

"Is a scheming, cowardly, evil bastard, and so is his son. Now get out of here." Sirius said, and with one last attempt at a glare, Malfoy turned and walked away as quickly as he could, Crabbe and Goyle following him.

Sirius came back and looked at Harry.

"Wow." Harry said simply.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have just left it alone. I mean, I know he's 14 years old and he's just a product of his idiot parents, but I don't want him talking to you like that, and saying that stuff to you. It's wrong and he's got no right to treat you like that." Sirius shrugged. "The Malfoys think that because they're pureblood, they're better than everyone else...as if nothing in the world matters more than the 'purity' of ones blood. Honestly. But I'm sorry, Harry, I shouldn't have lost it like that."

"It was brilliant. Seriously, brilliant. The look on Malfoy's face...that's something that I'll never forget as long as I live," Harry said with a smile, and Sirius chuckled, slinging his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"So, what were you saying before we were so rudely interrupted?"

_- - - -break - - - -_

They spent the afternoon in Hogsmeade, eating lunch at The Three Broomsticks and wandering around the village afterward. Sirius showed him all of the old places the Marauders used to go together, and it was just what Harry needed to ease his mind. He told Sirius about the dragons, and how nervous he was and that he didn't know how he was going to get past it.

"Well, first of all, you need to take a step back and think about what you're good at, and what you can do, instead of what you can't do. So...what are you good at?"

Harry wracked his brain. "'I'm decent at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms...not terrible at Transfiguration...but I can't think of anything that will help me get past a giant animal that can set me on fire and eat me." He said exasperatedly.

Sirius laughed. "What else are you good at?"

He groaned. "I don't know...flying?"

"You're more than good at flying...you wouldn't have been made the youngest Seeker in a century if you weren't. So..."

"But...I'm not allowed to use my broom. I'm only allowed to use my wand." Harry said in an annoyed voice. How was it helpful to think of things that would help him if he were only allowed to use them?

"Can you think of anything your wand could do that might help with the broomstick problem?" Sirius prodded, and realization dawned on Harry's face.

"I can use a Summoning charm! I mean, I'll have to get Hermione to help me...I'm not the best at it yet...but it might work...it just might work!" Harry said, relieved. "Thanks, Sirius!"

"No problem." They were quickly approaching the castle, and Harry was sad to know that their day was over. He felt better about the rapidly approaching first task, which took place in a week, but he had some work ahead of him to do, and a part of him still wished he could grab his broomstick and his trunk and go back home. But if Sirius, and everyone around him, had taught him anything, it was that you couldn't run from your problems.

They approached the huge front doors and stopped outside of them. Sirius turned and looked at Harry. "Okay, I've got to get going. I hope today helped a little bit."

"It did," Harry said, scuffing his toe against the grass.

"Good. I'll see you in a week, okay?" He gave him a quick hug. "Go on inside."

"Bye," Harry said absentmindedly, and then he headed inside to go ask Hermione if she wouldn't mind terribly helping him with learning the Summoning charm.

_-break-_

The day of the first task dawned bright and early, and Harry woke feeling queasy. He knew that in a few short hours, he'd be well on his way to becoming dragon food...unless he could fly his way out of trouble. It seemed like a long shot.

After ignoring Hermione's pleas to get him to eat breakfast, Harry found himself walking slowly toward his doom. He entered the champions tent and stepped inside. Krum was looking decidedly more confident than Harry was, although Fleur and Cedric both looked like they were nervous, which made him feel a bit better. At least he wasn't the only one who was a bit unsure of himself. He was pacing around with the rest of the champions when he heard his name.

He walked out of the tent and saw Sirius there. "Just came to wish you luck...and to let you know how proud I am of you." He had a big smile on his face.

"You don't think I'm going to die or anything, do you?" Harry asked quickly.

"No, of course not! Don't even say that. I just want you to know,that no matter what happens today, I am proud of you for stepping up to this and not trying to run away. You're turning into a good man, Harry." Sirus said quietly, and he found his godson with his arms thrown around him. Harry was silent. "I love you, okay? Now be safe. Please, be safe."

And, through some magnificent combination of skill and great luck, Harry was safe. His Summoning charm worked perfectly, and even though it was certainly no easy feat, outflying a dragon to get to her egg, flying was what he was good at. He finished bruised, sweaty, and slightly bloody, but triumphant. He was tied for first place with Viktor Krum.

He was mobbed by the whole of Gryffindor House as soon as he stepped out of the champion's tent again, and through the din he heard the twins call out that they were going to sneak some food from the kitchens for a celebration in the common room. He saw Ron standing in the background, and they met eye contact for a brief moment. Ron gave him a small smile, but turned and went after the rest of the students. Hermione, who had been battling through the throng of people, finally reached Harry and threw her arms around him. Standing behind her was Sirius.

"I told you you could do it," He said in a confident voice, but a look of relief was clearly painted across his face. "Not that I wasn't worried about you...I mean, every parent would be worried about their kid battling a fully grown Hungarian Horntail...but you handled it well. Best flying I've seen in ages, really." Sirius babbled, and he seemed unsure of what to say.

Harry smiled at him. "I'm just glad it's over. I'm exhausted."

"Well, it's not all over yet. But it will be before you know it..you've just got to hold on and take things one step at a time."


	15. Everything Changes Now

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP, I make no profit from this. It's strictly for fun. It all belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling.**

**A/N: Okay, so it's been a hot second (yet again). Well, it's been like two months. I know I sound like a broken record, but school...really. I underestimated how much work my new school would be. But I took exams this week and now I am on winter break until after the new year...yay! My goal is to finish this story up. Anyways, read and review if you're so inclined! :]**

The second task passed much like the first one did. It certainly wasn't _fun_, but Harry emerged from the Black Lake with Ron and Fleur's little sister in tow, cold and exhausted, but unharmed. Hermione flung her arms around him and Ron in turn and then gave them towels; she had been Krum's 'victim', and was also soaked. The judges announced that despite Harry's last place finish, they were awarding him extra points based on his merit. Sirius and all the Gryffindors were thrilled with his standing-second place-but Harry was just glad that there was only one task left. He was almost finished, and it didn't look like he'd be losing his life. Even if he lost the tournament, even if he finished dead last, he would still be done with it.

One task left.

His fight through the maze had not been an easy one, and he and Cedric were both now mere feet from the cup. "Go. Grab it. You saved my life, you've earned it," Cedric urged him, but Harry knew that not only would Cedric have done the same for him, but he would feel nothing but guilt when he returned with that Cup. Not to mention the way all of the other houses would hate him for it.

He took a deep breath and said, "No. We'll grab it together."

That turned out to be a decision that Harry would always regret.

His adrenaline had been running so high that he hadn't properly felt anything until he landed with a thud on the ground outside the maze, the Triwizard Cup in one hand, Cedric's body clenched in the other. He had the wind knocked out of him, and he took some deep, rattling breaths, along with a choked sob. He barely heard the thunderous applause around him, which was slowly ebbing away when they realized that one of the people holding on to the Cup wasn't moving.

Dumbledore, Sirius, Mr. Diggory and several of the teachers were coming towards them quickly. Harry clung tightly to Cedric's body, crying freely now, still seeing Voldemort's face in his mind.

"Harry, are you alright?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's back! Voldemort! He's back and he killed Cedric!" Harry choked out and he heard Mr. Diggory let out a cry of anguish; it was a horrible sound. He looked up at Sirius and then ducked his head again. Dumbledore wore an expression of shock, but tried to compose himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the stadium. People were whispering, and starting to wonder what was going on. "Can you take care of him, Sirius?" Dumbledore said quietly, and Sirius nodded. He crouched down next to his godson.

"Harry, let go of Cedric." Sirius said quietly, laying a hand on his shoulder. Harry shook his head no, furiously tightening his grip. "Harry, come on. Let him go. You can't do anything for him."

"No." Harry said angrily. Sirius grabbed Harry's hand and tugged, trying to make him let go of Cedric's body. With a little bit of coaxing, he closed his eyes and let go, standing up and immediately grabbing onto Sirius. He didn't care that an entire stadium full of people was watching him; he latched on and let himself cry. Sirius nodded at Dumbledore and steered Harry away from the prying eyes of people who had no idea what was going on.

They went up the long, sloping lawns and into the castle. Sirius lead them into an empty room, drew up a couch out of thin air, and pushed himself and Harry onto it. Harry took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. He was shivering and, looking at him, Sirius felt his heart breaking. He was trying to keep himself calm, for both of their sakes, but it was proving very difficult.

"Are you okay? What happened? Merlin, look at you, Harry, what the hell happened?" Sirius said, gripping Harry's shoulders.

Harry took a shaky breath and looked him in the eye and even though he didn't want to, he started to talk. He told him about grabbing the Cup and how it turned out to be a Portkey; how Wormtail had finished a restorative potion and Voldemort had emerged from the cauldron with his body back; how Voldemort had dueled with him, and the spirits of his parents had helped him escape back to the Portkey unharmed. He didn't stop talking for over twenty minutes and by the time he was done, ashamed as he was to be so, he was in tears again.

"And Cedric. Wormtail killed Cedric." He said quietly, closing his eyes tightly, unable to see anything but the way Cedric had flown backward from the Killing Curse and landed next to him, eyes open and unseeing. "He was there, too, he helped save me and he asked me...he asked me to bring his body back."

Sirius put his arm around Harry and squeezed him tightly. "It's okay, it's over now."

Harry nodded and was silent for a little while. "Sirius? He's back. Voldemort. He is, he's back, I saw him."

"I believe you." Sirius said quickly. He knew that it wouldn't be an easy road for Harry, and that right now, in this room, he was the safest that he would be for a very long time. He was with someone who loved him and believed in him implicitly, who stood behind him no matter what, but the same would not be said for the people outside of the door. The Wizarding world would not want to easily accept that the greatest Dark wizard they had ever seen was back. Harry would not have an easy go of it, but right now he didn't want to focus on that. He wanted to make sure his godson was okay, and if he wasn't right now, he wanted to at least make sure that he _could_ be okay. On a whim, he said, "Are you hurt?"

Sirius started looking him over to see if he was okay, almost immediately noticing the tear in Harry's shirt where Wormtail had cut him, taking his blood for Voldemort's restorative potion. "What's this?"

"Wormtail did it. For that potion to...to make him come back. He said my blood would give him protection." Harry murmured, looking away.

"We'll have to have Madame Pomfrey look at it," Sirius said quietly, trying yet again to keep himself calm. Wormtail had done this, and it was a small thing, but it made him angry. Wormtail had taken so much from the pair of them already-Lily and James-and he should have been wasting away in Azkaban, but thanks to a clumsy guard who hadn't kept a close enough watch, he had been able to transform into his Animagus form and slip away. Now he was hurting Harry, physically hurting him, and it just...it just made him angry. "I should have wasted him when I had the chance," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," Sirius said quietly. Harry didn't need upsetting any more.

"I want to go home," Harry said, not for the first time that year.

"He can't leave right now, Sirius. I know you're both upset, but we still have no idea what happened-"

"He told me."

Dumbledore sighed. "I'm certainly glad that he told you, but _we_ need to know what happened. Do you realize what's going on? A student's died, another comes back with news that Voldemort is back, and I've a school full of people wanting answers. Harry will be okay here, really, and he can leave in a few days time."

"I know everything is crazy right now...I know you have a duty to figure out what's happened and keep everyone at Hogwarts safe...but Harry is _my_ responsibility." Sirius took a deep breath, leaning against the cold stone wall of the castle. "He's mine and I haven't done a very good job of keeping him safe this year."

Dumbledore looked at him with kind eyes, an expression of sympathy on his face. "This isn't your fault, Sirius. There's nothing you could've done to change any of it."

"Yes, there is. I should never have let him compete in the tournament."

"We searched for a way around it, and there was none. The contract was a binding magical law; you know that."

Sirius tossed Dumbledore a look. "I don't care about a 'binding magical law', I should have taken him home immediately. Or...I don't know, gone away, or something. I put him in harms way; instead of listening to him and realizing that he's just too young to do this, I turned it into some lesson because I saw no other way around it." Sirius sighed, running his fingers through his hair and taking a deep breath. "I told him not to run from his problems. Don't get me wrong, Albus, I _don't_ want him to run from his problems. But this? This is my fault for being too passive and not taking him out of this. I understand that he's the poster boy for hope because of what happened when he was a baby, and I know why you want him here. But I'm not making a mistake again, I'm listening to him this time. So I can tell you everything, or you can ask him yourself. But I am taking him home tonight. Not in a few days, not in a week, not after you've calmed the school and the rest of the world down. _Tonight_."

Dumbledore looked at the steely glint in Sirius's eyes and knew that the man wasn't backing down. They had all been through a lot that night; it was already past midnight, and they'd just gotten Amos Diggory off of the field and away from his son's body. Snape had been called upon to brew him a calming potion which had been administered; the students were in their dormitories, huddled together and speculating about what had happened; the teachers were doing the same in the staff room. Dumbledore himself was unsure of how he could comfort these people, what he should say to those who had lost Cedric, who were confused and terrified about what the future would hold. But Sirius was right. So often, everyone-including himself-forgot that Harry was a boy, not just a mindless thing that had been sent to save them.

"Yes. Let me talk to him, and then of course, take him home."

Sirius nodded. "Thank you."

**A/N: Fluff fluff fluff. I was in such a fluffy mood, and I know this is a bit shorter than usual, but I've got a couple ideas brewing for the next chapter so I'm gonna leave it here. Hope you like it :]**


	16. This Will Never Be Easy

**A/N: My dream of finishing up this story during break obviously did not happen :( Laziness and sleep and a bunch of other things happened, and here we are. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I started this story...and since I got into the HP fandom...what a great year! :) No profit is being made from this; I don't own these characters, J.K. Rowling does. Thanks for reading!**

After their talk, Sirius and Dumbledore went back to the small classroom that they had left Harry in. He was sitting on the couch, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms around them. He looked up as they came in, and Sirius went over and sat down next to him.

"Hey. Professor Dumbledore needs you to tell him what happened tonight, like you told me. _But_," Sirius said earnestly, upon noticing the slightly dismayed look on Harry's face, "once you have, you can go and get your things and we're going home."

"I'm coming with you?" Harry asked.

"Of course. Like I could leave without you," Sirius said with a smile and Harry grinned back at him. There was a moments pause and then Harry looked over at Dumbledore and started talking. Sirius was surprised at the amount of clarity with which he was relaying the story;he had expected Harry's mind to start fogging over, the exhaustion of the day's events and the stress and sorrow of what had happened to cloud the details, perhaps to protect him. But he described everything in great detail, and Sirius was concerned about how impassive his face was during the whole ordeal, as if he was feeling nothing.

By the time Harry was done speaking, he was leaning against Sirius unconsciously and 40 minutes had passed. It was nearly 1am. Dumbledore was shocked, it seemed, but he took a brief second to compose himself and then said, "Thank you very much, Harry. I'm so sorry all of this had to happen to you." He stood up. "You and Sirius can go up to Gryffindor Tower and collect your things and then you can go. I should really go speak with the Hufflepuffs. Sirius, I'll be in touch. Good night."

Dumbledore left the room, and they both stood up and wordlessly started heading up the winding passageways to Gryffindor Tower. As they came to a stop in front of the Fat Lady, Sirius looked over at Harry and waited for him to give the password, but he said nothing. He was exhausted, and looked like at any moment, he could fall down and sleep for a year.

Sirius turned to face him. "Are you alright?"

Harry nodded. "I just don't want to go in there. There's gonna be a ton of people...as soon as I walk in..."

"Hey. In and out, that's all it is. You just got upstairs, toss the rest of your stuff in your trunk, and go. Ignore them. If you forget something, we'll think about that later, but there's no reason to stick around." Sirius told him.

"But everyone'll be wanting to know what happened and-"

"Harry." Sirius said firmly, turning to him and gripping the boy's shoulders. "It is not your job to tell people what happened. It's Dumbledore's job to decide what everyone needs to know. I know that everyone treats you like it is, but it's not and I want you to remember that."

Harry nodded, but still stared uncertainly at the portrait of the fat lady. Sirius sighed. "Do you want me to go in and grab your stuff?"

Harry nodded quickly. "Thanks." He gave the password, the portrait swung forward, and Sirius went inside.

It seemed as if, despite the late hour, the whole of Gryffindor House was spread out in the common room. Several of the younger students had fallen asleep, propped up against each other, but the older students were sitting around, talking in hushed voices. As soon as Sirius walked in, all heads turned towards him, and many of them looked uncomfortable. Undoubtedly many of their parents still didn't trust him, despite the fact that his name had been clear.

He figured he should say something, but he was trying to figure out what when Hermione and Ron burst out of the crowd and ran over to him. "Sirius!" Hermione cried. "Where's Harry? Is he alright? What happened?" she asked in a lower, albeit frenzied, voice.

"Yeah, is he okay?" Ron asked worriedly, and as soon as they had said something, the whole common room started buzzing. People started asking what had happened, if Cedric was dead, what was going on. Sirius held up his hands.

"Look, guys, I'm sorry, but-" He was drowned out by everyone. He tried a few more times, then raised his wand, letting out a loud noise that quieted the room down. "There, that's better. Now I know you're all worried and wondering what happened, but I'm not qualified to tell you that. That's not up to me. Someone will be along shortly, I'm sure, but I'm only here for one thing and then I'll be out of your hair." He looked over at Ron and Hermione. "Come with me." he muttered, and the three made their way up to the boys' dormitories.

"What's going on, Sirius?" Ron asked as they watched him go over and start throwing Harry's belongings-spare robes, street clothes, parchment and quills, books-into the trunk at the foot of his four-poster. Sirius looked up at them. He knew he probably shouldn't, knew Dumbledore wouldn't want him telling any of the students anything, even Ron and Hermione, but still..._this was Ron and Hermione._ They'd been there for Harry from the very beginning (minus a small hiccup from Ron at the beginning of this year) and they deserved to know the truth about what was going on.

"Okay, whatever I tell you can't leave this room, got it?" Ron and Hermione both nodded. "Harry is okay, he's fine. A little shaken, but he'll be alright. He's outside. He didn't want to come in here and be bombarded by everyone."

"But what happened? What happened to Cedric? And Harry?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice.

"Harry'll want to tell you that himself, I'm sure. But, long story short...Voldemort is back. He saw him and fought him again, and he killed Cedric." Sirius let it sink in as he finished packing the rest of Harry's things and closed the lid of the trunk.

"Can we see him?" Ron asked and Sirius sighed.

"I'm taking him home tonight. But I promise I'll have him owl you two first thing in the morning, and we'll arrange something. We'll figure it out."

"You're taking him home tonight, and he's not coming back?" Hermione asked, and Sirius nodded. "Okay." She sighed. "Tell him that...that we're thinking of him and to contact us as soon as he can. As soon as he wants to." She added, and Sirius nodded again.

"You know I will. Stay safe, okay?" Sirius patted them both on the shoulder, gave them a smile, and flicked his wand at Harry's full and very messy trunk. It rose a few feet in the air and followed him down the stairs, past the still-anxiously-waiting students and back out through the portrait hole.

Harry was sitting with his back against the wall, his head down, but he looked up when Sirius came out. "Can we go now?"

Sirius nodded.

- - - break - - -

As soon as they got home, Harry went upstairs, and Sirius let him go. There was nothing left to talk about; it was late and they were both exhausted. His trunk got left in the living room, and Sirius went into his bedroom, laid down, and was asleep within moments.

Harry, on the other hand, sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his room that hadn't been touched since he'd been home for Christmas. He was completely drained; his body ached, his eyes drooped and he felt like he could lay down and sleep for days. In fact, he just might do that. He toed off his sneakers, shed his socks, jeans and shirt, and put on some pajama pants. He crawled into bed and tried to fight off the images of green light, Cedric's dead body, and Voldemort's cold, ruthless face that flooded his mind as soon as he closed his eyes.

- - break- - -

"No! Cedric! _No_! Don't hurt him! Stop, _don't kill me_! I can't-please-don't..."

Sirius jumped out of bed at 4am, hearing Harry's screams, and he bolted down the hallway. He shoved open the door to Harry's room and saw him tossing and turning, sweat pouring down his forehead. He was locked in a nightmare, undoubtedly reliving what had happened in the graveyard. Sirius sat on the edge of his bed and shook Harry by the shoulders.

"Harry! Harry, wake up, it's okay, it's just a bad dream. It's just a bad dream." Harry opened his eyes, looking around the room, and Sirius watched the nightmare melt away from him until he realized that it had all been a dream. He was shaking, trembling all over, and Sirius hugged him as he started to cry. "'S okay, Harry. You're alright. It was just a nightmare. It's all over. You're safe. It's all over." He murmured comforting words over and over, soothing Harry, but all the while knowing that this was not over. Not by a long shot. What had happened wouldn't just go away, and it had left its mark on him.

A few minutes later, Harry pulled away, sniffing and wiping his eyes. "Sorry," he muttered, drawing his knees up to his chest and sitting up.

"Nothing to be sorry about," Sirius said. "Try and get some more sleep." He squeezed Harry's shoulder, stood up, and went back to his room.

Sirius went back to bed and fell asleep, but Harry laid back down and stared at the wall. He was afraid to go back to sleep, afraid that once he did, the nightmare would come back. It had been awful and he didn't want to relive that again.

The next few days all passed in a similar fashion. The house was quiet, Harry spending most of his time in his room, and Sirius rattling around, cleaning things that didn't need to be cleaned and ignoring his instincts to go in and drag his godson out. Several letters arrived by owl-a few from Remus, worried about them, a couple from Ron and Hermione, who were getting ready for the end of term, and one from Dumbledore-but none got answered. Neither Sirius nor Harry were in the mood to open up to their friends.

Every night was the same, also. Harry always tossed and turned, caught in the grips of nightmare after nightmare, eventually calling out and waking Sirius. It happened at least once or twice every night, and Sirius had no clue what to do about it except comfort him as best as he could. When Harry emerged from his bedroom for the occasional meal, he could tell that he wasn't sleeping by the dark circles under his eyes.

A week after the debacle at the Triwizard Tournament, a knock sounded from the front door at 3pm. Sirius went and opened it. "I figured it'd only be a matter of time. Come on in, Moony." Sirius stepped back and allowed Remus Lupin to enter, then they went into the living room.

"Yeah, well, you haven't answered any of my letters; I tried Firecalling you but you've shut your fireplace against it. What was I supposed to do?"

"I supposing leaving it alone was never an option, was it?" Sirius asked with a weary smile, and Remus shook his head.

"No, it wasn't. You can't just disappear with this, Sirius. Not anymore, and certainly not with him."

"Who said I was trying to disappear?" Sirius asked stonily. "We had this discussion already, Remus, I'm not 17 anymore. I've no desire to run off."

"I don't mean disappear that way. I mean, this...hiding away, not answering anyone, pretending that everything's not completely different now...that kind of disappear. Where's Harry?" Remus asked.

Sirius sighed. He was sick and tired of people scolding him. This was what James and Lily had wanted, for him to take care of Harry, and he doubted that they would have wanted everyone interfering and assuming that he couldn't do it. "He's in his room."

"When's the last time he came out?"

"A few hours ago, for lunch."

"You probably aren't even forcing him out and making him talk about this! He's been through something extremely difficult, and it's not going to get any easier from here on out. It's not good for him to shut off and sit in his room all day."

Sirius looked at Remus as if he'd never seen him before. "Do you remember at _all_ what it was like to be 14 years old? If anything like this had happened to me, I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted my mother or father dragging me out to _talk about it._"

Remus sighed. "Yes, I remember what it was like to be 14. But it's not your job to make sure he's not pushed outside of his comfort zone. It's your job to know what's best for him, and what's best is for him to talk about it with you. Or me, or Ron and Hermione, or someone."

Sirius then did something that Remus didn't hadn't anticipated: he smiled. "Moony, I'm going to tell you this one time and one time only, and I mean this in the nicest possible way: back off, please."

"Back off?" Remus narrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah, back off. We went through this a year ago when he first moved in. I wasn't as confident then but I am now._ I can do this._ I'm _doing_ this. I made some mistakes this year with him, I can admit that, but what parent doesn't make mistakes? I'm his parent, Remus. Lily and James will always be his parents, but, I am too. This boy...he's my son, now. When Harry came to live with me, I had no idea I could care about him this much. I knew he was my godson, he was James' and Lily's, and that he meant a lot to me. I didn't see myself considering him as my son, but I do now." Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

He didn't know if any of this was getting through to Moony; he didn't know if there would ever be a time when people would back off of him, because Harry and his well-being was important to a lot of people; he didn't know if Harry would be okay today, or tomorrow, or two weeks from Sunday. He didn't know how long it would take. There were no rules in any of this. But he was doing his best, and he was right for this boy. He could feel it.


End file.
